stop the spray of herbicides in forests, nova scotia government told
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a helicopter applies a herbicide spray in a forested area in this stock image. a cape breton environmental group is calling on the province to stop the spraying of herbicide on hundreds of hectares of mainland nova scotia forest. - 123rf
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a cape breton environmental group is demanding that the provincial environment minister stop issuing forest spray permits for mainland nova scotia.
neal livingston, a woodlot owner in inverness county and co-chairman of the margaree environmental association, says environment minister tim halman’s continued aerial spray approvals for the mainland are inexplicable more than 30 years after similar spraying ended in cape breton.
“with more than 30 years of no-spray experience on over a million acres that port hawkesbury paper operates on, the mea (margaree environmental association) demands that this year the minister stop this nonsense, adopt cape breton’s no-spray practices, and not issue spray permits for mainland nova scotia,” livingston said.
the margaree association wrote a letter to halman dated july 24 with its demand but livingston said the group has not received a response from the minister or the department.
applications to spray 1,448 hectares
“the department has received four applications covering 1,447.56 hectares and the department is currently reviewing them,” cindy porter, communications adviser with the provincial environment and climate change department, said in an emailed response to questions from the chronicle herald.
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“health canada approves what pesticides are safe for use,” porter said. “if someone has concerns about the pesticides they approve for use across the country, they need to contact health canada. our role is to make sure the companies that are spraying comply with strict terms and conditions when spraying.”
livingston and his group say that’s not good enough.
“the point we’ve been trying to make is, how can you live in two different worlds, where the largest and only pulp and paper company in nova scotia, controlling through leases huge forest territories, like a million acres, doesn’t spray and carries on successful commercial forestry,” livingston said.
“then you have these others, that we call the worst players in the industry, spraying. why would the minister of environment issue permits for spraying when he clearly knows there are alternatives?
“it’s his job as environment minister to control the levels of pollution and, when it’s not needed, he should not be issuing a permit. it couldn’t be more clear that spraying is not a necessary tool, considering that port hawkesbury paper has over 30 years of experience in no-spray forestry.”
people rally outside province house in halifax in this file photo to protest spraying and clearcutting.
file
livingston said issuing the aerial spraying permits causes a huge amount of conflict in rural communities with people even camping out in an effort to stop the spraying of chemicals “that are known to be potentially carcinogenic.”
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glyphosate, the active ingredient in pesticides mad dog plus, roundup and visionmax, has long been controversial in nova scotia, where it is used in agriculture and in aerial spray programs to cull or eliminate the growth of hardwood and other unwanted vegetation in softwood stands to allow for better growth of commercial trees.
ottawa ordered to reassess glyphosate approval
glyphosate, canada’s most heavily used herbicide, has been the subject of numerous court cases, including a case in which a federal court judge in march of this year ordered the federal government to reassess its 2022 approval of glyphosate amid fresh concerns over potential health and environmental risks.
justice russell zinn ruled that health canada’s original decision was “unreasonable” because the agency failed to adequately consider 61 new scientific studies presented by environmental groups, including the david suzuki foundation and environmental defence, that identified new or heightened risks associated with glyphosate.
health canada was granted just six months to undertake a more comprehensive review of the chemical’s safety, particularly regarding products like mad dog plus.
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in the letter to halman, livingston and the margaree association point out the provincial environment act requires the minister to undertake research and implement policies, programs, plans, and strategies for alternatives to pesticide use.
“we believe that implicit in such a requirement under your act should mean that when there are clearly alternatives, that are widely practised, that you should only in the most rare circumstances be issuing such permits for spraying,” the letter reads.
“we request that you should be demanding of applicants for spraying that they prove that, in their circumstances, they cannot manage their forests without a pollution permit from you.”
the letter goes on to say such proof should be individual and fully proven by an in-depth study for each site that is applied for, not copied from one application to another.
“as you are required to see reductions in pesticide use in nova scotia, the reduction in forestry spray permits is in alignment with your required duties as minister to protect the environment and thus refuse to permit unnecessary pollution.”
a dedicated group in the annapolis valley made sure a camp was occupied 24/7 to prevent glyphosate spraying in their vicinity in this file photo.
file
the department, in its response to the chronicle herald, did not answer the question asking if the government requests assurances from companies that they explore all alternatives to aerial pesticide spraying programs to manage their forest holdings.
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the association in its letter repeated a request for a meeting with the minister to discuss forest spray permits before any others are issued this year.
the department did not say if the minister had considered meeting with the association but livingston said the association did not hear from halman and does not realistically expect to.
minister did not respond
“the minister seems to not respond to us,” livingston said, adding that forestry industry representatives have a much better likelihood of getting his ear.
“the minister is being influenced by forest nova scotia (fns), whose spokesperson last november bragged at a maple producers meeting that they had met with minister hallman four times in the past month, and that fns had the ability to access and meet with ministers and influence them,” livingston said.
environment minister tim halman answers questions from reporters about changes to the environmental assessment process at a news conference in halifax in may.
ryan taplin
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the chronicle herald
livingston said when the minister last corresponded with him and the association, it was a department “boiler plate” response stating chemicals were registered for use in canada and, therefore, they can be used.
“in february 2023, i met with the assistant deputy minister, andrew murphy, because the minister would not meet with me,” livingston said. “i followed up with a letter and then several others and nobody writes back.”
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he said the deputy minister was dismissive of the association’s concerns.
livingston said the government has over the past three decades undermined the no-spray policy that port hawkesbury paper exercises.
andrea doucette, who manages port hawkesbury paper’s forest program, responding to a request for comment about company policies, said in an email “we respectfully would like to decline any comment regarding the use of herbicides on forest lands in nova scotia.”
port hawkesbury paper manages about 523,000 hectares (1,292,361 acres) of leased public lands in the seven easternmost counties of the province: pictou, antigonish, guysborough, inverness, richmond, victoria and cape breton.
the environment department concluded its response to the chronicle herald by noting it prioritizes “the safety of nova scotians by ensuring compliance with specific terms and conditions for pesticide spraying, by having strict rules in place for when companies spray pesticides.”
some of those rules include a 30-metre buffer from water when spraying, that companies alert residents within 500 metres of spraying when it will occur and that companies only spray when the wind is calm, at speeds of less than 10 kilometers per hour.
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