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EARTH ACTION
81 Prince Street Charlottetown PEI C1A 4R3 Tel: 902-621-0719 Email:
slabchuk@isn.net
NEWS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 27, 1999
PUBLIC REJECTS PROVINCE'S ANNUAL PESTICIDE HEARINGS
Charlottetown - The Province's annual Pesticides Advisory Committee
hearings, held on January 26, were ignored this year by people concerned
about harm to the environment and human health from pesticide use. The
committee is set up to advise the Minister of Agriculture on pesticide
policy and is required to hear presentations from the public at annual
hearings. This year Earth Action campaigned to discourage the public from
participating claiming the committee is hand-picked by Minister of
Agriculture Eric Hammill and overwhelmingly pro-pesticide.
The last committee chairperson, John Bukowski, was a vocal supporter of
pesticides, denouncer of environmentalists and former employee of one of
the world's largest pharmaceutical and chemical companies, says Earth
Action spokesperson Sharon Labchuk. After listening to many first-hand
testimonies from Islanders affected by pesticides, she says he insulted
them all with comments made to the media.
"Bukowski, quoted on November 8, 1997 in the Guardian, said that the
actual number of problems and significant drift onto people's property is
rare and that smelling an application of chemical spray is not drift, it's
like smelling someone tar a driveway. He said housewives who feel more
important by touting or promoting the myths can't change the facts."
Selecting Bukowski to chair the committee, says Labchuk, is a good
indication of the Minister's bias.
" Of the 9 current committee members, the chair is retired form Agriculture
Canada, 4 are provincial government employees and one works for Zeneca,
the world's third largest manufacturer of pesticides. There is also a
nurse with conventional farm connections, a conventional farmer and 1
token organic grower," says Labchuk.
Only 6 presentations were scheduled to be heard this year. Four were from
potato industry interest groups, including Cavendish Farms, one from a
student and one from the Environmental Coalition of PEI. Hearings over the
last few years were lively affairs with standing room only. A leaflet
Earth Action distributed to the public advised, "Don't waste your time and
don't lend credibility to this corrupt process by allowing industry and
government to use you as a willing participant."
Labchuk says many people for many years have spent considerable time
preparing thoughtful submissions to the committee and ended up with nothing
more than a 25 kilometre per hour wind speed regulation which she says
might as well be 100 kilometres per for all its effectiveness in reducing
drift. "The regulation is an insult to everyone on PEI suffering health
problems because of spray drift."
"On top of this, the Binns government passed Right to Farm legislation last
year which gives growers the right to spray pesticides with no regard for
the environment or human health, and to be virtually immune from
prosecution as long as the wind speed is under 25 kilometres per hour.
Last year the province's pesticide police recived 102 complaints of which
55 were investigated. Only one ticket was issued. This government clearly
protects and supports pesticide manufacturers and users."
She says there are better ways to influence pesticide reform than appearing
in front of biased government committees and suggests people can make their
views known to the wider community through letters to the editor, leaflets,
articles in community newsletters, the internet and speaking to community
groups.
- 30 -
Contact: Sharon Labchuk 621-0719 or 368-7337
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