Attached is a little, almost unnoticeable notice, that was in Friday's Herald. Northern Pulp labeled this a "Vegetation Management Notice" but it translates more accurately to: 'Northern Pulp set to aerial spray glyphosate throughout Colchester and Halifax Counties.'
Although the spray compound may be called 'Vision' and sound rather harmless, its main active ingredient is glyphosate which is the same active ingredient used in RoundUp. The herbicide is used to promote the growth of softwoods by killing the foliage and hardwood trees that compete with the desired spruce trees that Northern Pulp uses to make their product. Basically anything with a leaf dies or is substantially set back and only the trees with needles prosper.
Although this chemical has been banned for some uses in some Canadian Provinces and other regions of the world it will be aerial sprayed over large amounts of woodland areas here in the Province between August 25 and October 10.
There is a lot of controversy surrounding the use of this chemical. You could read articles for days about it's carcinogenic effects to humans but on the other hand, its 'importance' in the agriculture and pulp and paper industries. There are also concerns about its effects on honey bees and other critters of the wild -
http://action2.davidsuzuki.org/glyphosateThe bottom line is that Northern Pulp / Paper Excellence / Asia Pulp and Paper is using it to kill foliage and hardwood trees.
This herbicide spraying had mostly stopped when the Government of Nova Scotia had stopped footing the bill for it. But we did hear that Northern Pulp had been pressuring the government to begin paying for this procedure again. Has the provincial government also caved on this? Write to Premier Stephen MacNeil, PREMIER@novascotia.ca - Natural Resources Minister, Lloyd Hines mindnr@novascotia.ca - Environment Minister
