UPDATE 2019
What's happened to Pesticide By-law P800?
Letter to Mayor and Council May 16, 2019
From: Helen Jones
To: Mayor Mike Savage. cc Office, Clerks
Dear Mayor Mike Savage and all HRM Councillors,
Who is enforcing the important public health protections of our Pesticide Bylaw (By-Law P-800)?
It is of great concern to see KENT stores in HRM freely displaying bottles of ROUNDUP for sale on their store shelves and in displays near cash registers.
As you may know, ROUNDUP contains the active ingredient, Glyphosate, which is acknowledged internationally as a probable carcinogen, and has a Canadian Pest Control Product Number that is NOT listed as allowed by HRM's Administrative Order 23.
Pesticide Bylaw P-800 explicitly prohibits the use of all herbicides in our municipality. Glyphosate is a herbicide.
Has the city kissed these protections goodbye or do you still stand by them?
In the interest of protecting both the public health of all our residents, as well as our municipality from potential liability risks (see below), I urge you to see that immediate action is taken to insure that illegal products are not displayed or sold in our jurisdiction, and that the valuable protections afforded by both our municipal bylaw and NS Provincial Pesticide Regulations are enforced (and violations penalized) - as if they matter.
Our kids and all our loved ones are depending on you.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Helen Jones
MSc., Hon. Zool. (UBC), Ed.D. (Col. Univ.)
Past Member, Pesticide Bylaw Advisory Committee
Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM)
Past Member, Pesticide Free Nova Scotia
Board Member, Real Alternatives to Toxins in the Environment (RATE)
www.ratens.ca">www.ratens.ca
UPDATE 2018
View RATE-NS: NOTES on FeHEDTA and Nitrates Aug 2018
____________
*See Lake Banook, Micmac restrictions extended as more aglae blooms spotted Stuart peddle in the Chronicle Herald, Aug 24, 2018
Major Concerns about Non-essential Pesticide Use in HRM in 2014
- HRM's Pesticide By-law remains key to protecting citizens.
HRM has been a leader in the development and application of regulations to restrict cosmetic (non-essntial) use of pesticides in the yard and garden and on public properties. Lawncare and landscaping companies have adapted and developed new procedures and products for control of pests, and the HRM model has been highly emulated.
In 2010, the Province of Nova Scotia enacted legislation restricting non-esential (cosmetic) use of pesticides province-wide. The Provincial Non Essential Pesticide Control Act will address one serious deficiency in the HRM By-law: the HRM by-law does NOT apply to commercial properties, while the Provincial Act does. On the other hand, the HRM By-law ensures much greater protection to vulnerable individuals through regulations pertaining to pre signage, buffer zones, a permitting system, and notification. See Comparison Chart
"Vulnerable individuals" include pregnant mothers, the unborn, children, the chronically ill and elderly, those with compromised immune systems, the pesticide sensitive, and pets.
It is therefore important that there be no weakening of the HRM By-law on the assumption that the Provincial Act now "does the job". We need both!
ACTION: It is urgent that you write or phone your councillor urging that1) HRM's Pesticide Bylaw be preserved 'as is' and not abandonned in favour of flawed provincial regulations. HRM must keep it's hard-won Bylaw P-800 that has drastically reduced pesticide use since the year 2000, and has served as a model to so many other Canadian municipalities in the ten years following.
2) Write or phone Councillors:To Councillor Barry Dalrymple, Chair
to say that It would be a serious mistake to bring the Pesticide Bylaw back to Halifax Regional Council for the purpose of making any changes to it, large or small. Doing so could result in losing it. Out-of-control discussions on pesticides are common, and the forces opposing the bylaw are looking for an opportunity to see all of HRM's pesticide regulatory powers cancelled and handed back to the province.
Councillor Jennifer Watts, Vice Chair
Environment and Sustainability Standing Committee (ESSC)
Cc Quentin Hill (Administrative Assistant for ESSC) HillQ@halifax.ca
Clerk's Office
Dear Councillors Barry Dalrymple, Jennifer Watts and All Members of the Environment and Sustainability Standing Committee.. - Some products that are permissable under both the Provincial Act and the HRM By-law still pose threats to sensitive individuals and pets and to native species, especially in our lakes and streams.
Read more
Archived: Issues 2006, 2007