Spraying Our Supper Spot

Posted by Jeffrey St. Clair on August 28th, 2008 | Link

CHEMICALS A CONCERN

By Kerry Bokenfohr

At 5:30 a.m. Aug. 7, I met up with an employee of a company who was
about to spray pesticides along the front curbside of my house. I
asked him to stop because it is a favourite spot where my children
like to sit when they eat their supper. The employee told me he was
required to spray the property unless he had a letter from the city
stating the area was exempt.

Earlier this spring, my six and eight-year-old arrived at Lakeview
Park to play baseball and we noticed signs posted stating that Trikill
(a product containing 2-4,D) had been applied throughout the park.

In 2003, the Ontario College of Family Physicians published a
literature review on the association of pesticides with cancer,
infertility, neurological disorders and chronic diseases. There is
overwhelming peer-reviewed scientific information about toxic
chemicals that accumulate in our body fat and our rising rates of
cancer. It has also been published that when many of these pesticides
were first approved for sale by Health Canada over 40 years ago, they
could not be thoroughly tested for toxicity and no long term studies
were done on the effects to humans. It is not disputed that children
and pets are most vulnerable because of their smaller bodies and their
affinity to grassy play areas. The Canadian Institute of Children’s
Health issued a statement that we use the precautionary principle to
completely eliminate unnecessary exposure of our children to toxic
chemicals like pesticides.

In 1991, a small community named Hudson in Quebec became the first
municipality to enact a ban on the use of pesticides for cosmetic
(strictly aesthetic purposes). They were taken to court by two
chemical companies but in 2001, the Supreme Court of Canada upheld the
decision that the municipality had a right to have a complete ban.
Since that decision, hundreds of communities have followed this lead
and there are now bans on using pesticides for cosmetic purposes all
across our country including entire provinces like Quebec and Ontario.

Where does that leave poor old Vernon? In 2002, a group of concerned
parents gathered a petition of over 1,500 signatures of residents who
agreed with a municipal ban on cosmetic pesticides in areas where
children play. We also discovered that the city of Vernon had been
funding a program for the past 15 years where all curbs, lanes and
alleys are sprayed with pesticides up to five times a year.

We went to city council and the school district to ask that we join
the many other cities across our country that were banning chemical
spraying for non-agricultural purposes. When we attracted media
attention, the city and school district agreed to stop that year.

Sadly, it looks like the spraying program is in full swing again. Why?