The wheels of justice, they say, grind slow, but they grind exceedingly fine. The wheels of municipal and provincial government grind even more slowly, and unevenly to boot.
After several years of contrarian leadership, the City of St. John's, along with several other municipal governments and Municipalities Newfoundland and Labrador (MNL), is finally moving to ban the cosmetic use of lawn pesticides.
For years, some councillors have supported the idea of the ban, while former St. John's mayor Andy Wells was outspokenly opposed, maintaining there was not enough science to show the chemicals were hazardous to human health. He maintained that position despite the fact the city's own website recommended limiting the use of the chemicals, and despite the growing number of studies and groups raising concerns.
Monday, council basically gave its support to a motion proposed by Mount Pearl city council at last weekend's MNL convention.
The motion supporting a pesticide ban passed unanimously at that convention, kicking the ball decidedly into the provincial government's court.
Let's hope the government moves quickly here.
Other provinces have already moved ahead with cosmetic pesticide bans - and why not? Whether the chemicals are slightly carcinogenic or worse, why take the chance of spraying them when all you're really trying to eliminate are things like chinch bugs and dandelions? Surely by now we've reached a point where the picture-perfect, putting-green lawn is no longer a measure of domestic bliss.
In this province, it's been literally two steps forward and one back. For example, the provincial government brought in one set of stricter rules about notifying neighbours about spraying in their neighbourhoods, and then promptly - and quietly - rolled those rules back to mitigate the difficulties they were causing for lawn-care firms.
Now, MNL is clearly asking for some legislative leadership and the provincial government is in the perfect position to provide it.
There are two options. Either bring in a provincial cosmetic pesticides ban as other provinces have done, or, if that seems like too big a step, allow municipalities to bring in their own bylaws banning the practice. Then, municipality by municipality, residents can make their own views known, and municipal politicians can move to address them.
It's not the end of lawn care, or even the end of lawn-care companies. There will still be lawns, and without the shortcut of chemistry, there will still be vegetative problems that have to be solved.
What it is, however, is an end to the idea that a perfect lawn is more important than the health risks of yet another variety of chemicals in our already chemically crowded world.
These wheels have been grinding for a long time, jammed up now and then by politicians who don't seem to be able to see the lawn for the grass.
It's time.
Chemical plans
- Published on November 12, 2009
- Published on July 1, 2010
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Staff ~ The Telegram
The wheels of justice, they say, grind slow, but they grind exceedingly fine. The wheels of municipal and provincial government grind even more slowly, and unevenly to boot.
After several years of contrarian leadership, the City of St. John's, along with several other municipal governments and Municipalities Newfoundland and Labrador (MNL), is finally moving to ban the cosmetic use of lawn pesticides.
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Comments
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- GreenEden
- - October 4, 2011 at 09:51:43
Pesticides will harm you. So will WATER if you drink too much of it. As a lawn care company who is licenced and very highly regulated by government, I can say very honestly that you can literally drink what I apply on a lawn. But if you drink too much of it you might die. Just like too many Big Macs. Over the past 20 years, Dicamba has been very highly scrutized by Health Canada. Every single report by Health Canada has shown that it is safe. That is science. To say that it might harm us is not scientific fact -- it's media-sexy and fear mongering. The alternative is iron based products like Fiesta. This product is 5 times the cost and requires 3-4 applications per year to see any measure of success. So now we are going to dump piles of iron into the water system. That sounds reasonable. My customer base is going to virtually disappear next year due to this ban. The bright side is that my landscape customers will indubitably increase as my phone rings off the hook with questions like, "Um why is my lawn gone? It was here last week and now it's just gone!". No problem. Resod! Certainly some areas are worse than others, but here in the Clarenville area, chich bug is rampant and ruthless. They will destroy a lawn in a weekend, and the average cost to replace it would run roughly $6,000. Of course, they could be back again anyway. Well done.
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- Darrel
- - July 2, 2010 at 15:05:39
actually weed and feed is a herbicide not a pesticide people, get it it straight. and it is not sprayed it is in pellet form so calm down with the pious rederick about breathing it in. pellets are not airborne so what is to sniff there? I think many of you have no clue if you think everything is a spray. spray this and spray that... too funny. and good luck with dropping property taxes, do you really believe that too? haha!! some people will believe anything
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- Huh?
- - July 2, 2010 at 15:02:04
'all but the organic produce is dripping with the most incidious chemical bath you could imagine.' Sounds like someone needs to buy a clue.
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- Nasty
- - July 2, 2010 at 15:01:56
Guess people just forget about organic weed and pest control these days. Far too much work involved in that now isn't it. Ya lazy slobs.
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- Piotr
- - July 2, 2010 at 15:00:39
[Hank from Nfld wrote: Judie from NL you grew up in a chemical world, tell us, which one of those conditions did you acquire ? Is your brain fried? Go eat your eat your triple bacon etc...] That's an ill-posed argument - no control group - we will never know what any particular person could or could not have achieved if he/she haven't been exposed to the unnecessary chemicals. Maybe even you, Hank, would be able to present a cogent, well-informed and not-below-the-belt argument? But we will never know, now, won't we?
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- Piotr
- - July 2, 2010 at 15:00:24
[Darrel from NL wrote: actually weed and feed is a herbicide not a pesticide people, get it it straight [...] haha!! some people will believe anything ] Webster's 9th New Collegiate Dictionary: Pesticide: an agent used to destroy pests ; Pest: PLANT or animal detrimental to man . Still feeling superior, Darrel?
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- Eli
- - July 2, 2010 at 14:59:24
I agree with Ken from Paradise. Let the louts concentrate (if that's possible) on providing enough water for next summer. Dandelions will still give us a ground cover after the blossoms have gone all over creation but chinch bugs leave your place looking like it's been burned over.
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- Jacko
- - July 2, 2010 at 14:59:19
I love it Shannon 'Eventually, all across NL, the battle will be lost against weeds and bugs.' You sound like American neo-con. The war against terrorism, the war against drugs, the war against weeds and bugs. Imagine, the audacity of those weeds and bugs trespassing on our property! Spraying poisons on our gardens is a God-given right! If I was nasty, I would email this thread to my mainland colleagues. They like a good laugh.
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- gerry g
- - July 2, 2010 at 14:57:30
we are one of four provinces in canada that allow no general safety and welfare provisions in our municipalities act...while the quality of our food is always an issue, the reality is that people directly inhaling sprays outside their home is not a matter of choice. you choose what you buy, but you cant choose the air you breathe when your neigbours spray chemicals. I know myself i have smelt chemicals as far as ten minutes away when approaching a certain business that had sprayed. by the time you see the sign its usually too late
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- Robert
- - July 2, 2010 at 14:56:55
I applaud council's action on this issue. We cannot tolerate poisoning our living space for cosmetic purposes - it should have been done years ago.
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- Ken
- - July 2, 2010 at 14:55:18
A few new council members trying to make a name for themselves. They should spend more time on how to supply enough water to their residents next summer.
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- Judie
- - July 2, 2010 at 14:54:48
While it is true that Newfoundland is in desperate need of more organic foods, why anyone would suggest that lawn pesticides are safe is simply adding insult to injury. Residential bans are intended to prohibit the unnecessary use of toxic chemicals in urban areas where children play and breathe. Preventing inhalation exposures of young children, with the chemicals going directly to their brain, by-passing liver, the cleansing organ. Here in our province pesticide misuse causing chemical tresspass is ongoing. This has to stop. Prevention is the key. Exposure to pesticide drift may cause birth defects, cancer, asthma, developmental disabilities and other long-term (or chronic) health effects. Pesticide drift can also harm the local environment by contaminating waterways, air, and soil, killing fish, birds and other wildlife. Pesticides can travel long distances and have been found as far as 80 kilometers away from where they were applied. When it comes to foods we have a choice to purchase local and organic foods, we have no choice when being exposed to the constant summer air pollution caused by pesticide drift in our windy province. http://sprayadvisory.webs.com/healthmedical.htm
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- shannon
- - July 2, 2010 at 14:53:23
When my neighbour allows his lawn to become a weed seed manufacturing ground which spreads like wildfire over my property, that'll really help their health when I see them and give them a piece of my mind. Eventually, all across NL, the battle will be lost against weeds and bugs. Lawns as we know them will disappear. People will lose interest when they can't stop the weed spread from their lazy neighbours, and properties will look like overgrown junkyards as weeds compete and choke out lawn grasses (because that's what they do). I guess I'll just park a rusted out vehicle carcus on my lawn as the crown jewel while we continue on the rest of our lives eating pesticide/herbicide coated supermarket veggies and idle my hummer in the parking lot while buying them.
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- Max
- - July 2, 2010 at 14:52:32
The level of knowledge/intelligence expressed by some contributors makes me wonder if they haven't already been sniffing pesticides!! All medical professionals have basically condemned the use of pesticides for cosmetic purposes. Anyone disputing that in today's world is, quite simply, low brow!!
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- Hank
- - July 2, 2010 at 14:52:28
Judie from NL you grew up in a chemical world, tell us, which one of those conditions did you acquire ? Is your brain fried ? Go eat your eat your triple bacon cheese breakfast sandwich with that cigarette while driving to work emiting NOx, CO and CO2 from your tailpipe. Please don't text while driving, that's much more dangerous in the here and now with real-world tangible effects.
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- dick
- - July 2, 2010 at 14:51:30
our council does whatever is popular at the time. how stupid!!!!! the follow the crowd mentality!! time for council to stick to financial issues not gardening issues!!! wake the hell up council!!! get your head out of your arse!! grow the city!!! forget the height restrictions and get on with it!!
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- Taxpayer ll
- - July 2, 2010 at 14:48:56
Yes, lets ban lawn chemicals which disapate completely in about 24 hrs., yet toddle off to Dominion where all but the organic produce is dripping with the most incidious chemical bath you could imagine. That, to me, is why this argument is so silly...it is not what people put on their lawns that should have everyone up in arms, but what they put in thier children's mouths. The strawberrys and brocolli that you buy have more bug spray and herbicide on them then you can shake a spray can at. Unless you are going to roll around on a newly sprayed lawn, or eat the grass you have nothing to worry about, however all the washing in the world won't rid your veggies of whats been sprayed on them.
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- P
- - July 2, 2010 at 14:45:56
Another ban. What happened to moderation? Will we ban women's cosmetics next? That industry is one of the biggest polluters on the planet. What about new cars? Ban those as well? New paint is cosmetic. Rusty cars still work fine. Many things are cosmetic in this world, should we ban all of them? Or should we find a way to live moderately without these knee-jerk reactions? Why aren't we banning lead-painted toys being sold in Canada? Oh, that's right, we are. The Telegram had an article here a week or so ago about this. Apparently we have regulations which ban lead-painted toys for sale in Canada, but we have no laws to enforce these regulations and the manufacturers are able to keep importing and selling them in Canada with impunity. This is all starting to sound a lot like opponents to the seal hunt, try focusing on more important matters folks.
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- Ger
- - July 2, 2010 at 14:45:26
a cup of coffee with caffeine is more toxic than the weed killer mixture that is sprayed on lawns. check that one out.
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- Piotr
- - July 2, 2010 at 14:43:47
[P from NL wrote:] Many things are cosmetic in this world, should we ban all of them? Well, if the risk they presetn bigger than the benefit they claim to provide - then answer YES. So, what's the overriding social benefit of cosmetic pesticides? That some of us would have a lawn made of non-native plants requiring more water to maintain and chemical? How exatly this justifies spraying carcinogenic and/or hormone-disrupting substances. so your neighbour's kids can breathe them in? The state has no place in the bedroom of the nation, but your are not spraying in your bedroom, aren't you? The moment you step outside, the moment you start to poison OTHER people, the moment when the price for your vanity is not paid by you but by your neighbours - then it is no longer the question of your right only, now, is it?
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- Xavier
- - July 2, 2010 at 14:43:36
gerry g benoit from st. johns, nl... I don't think you can smell weed'n feed. I think if people had used it properly, like once or twice a year in their lawn spreaders (it's not a spray, they are pellets), it would work fine and wouldn't be any more of a problem than household chemicals going down the drain inside the home. The problem is people using it every two weeks throughout the summer months when it isn't necessary. Furthermore, for safety reasons, domestic weed'n feed (the only type consumers can buy in hardware stores) is a very 'watered down' version of the commercial stuff. By the way, many human medications exit the body in active form and end up in our oceans as well. Should we ban some of those next ? Did you know that many of those cannot be metabolized in the ocean and they end up coming back full circle in seafood ? Weed'n feed doesn't.
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- Jay
- - July 2, 2010 at 14:43:01
Telegram said, 'Let's hope the government moves quickly here.' Yes, because goodness knows this is the most important thing going on in our province right now. Clearly H1N1 planning should be tossed aside like an old shoe because we need to immediately if not sooner ban weed-n-feed. 24 hour snow clearing on the highway? Back seat, cause we've got to move quickly to ban certain kinds of fertilizer. This is the Most Important Thing the Tely can think of? Really? To paraphrase D**k: perhaps gardening is not what local councils should be concerned about right now. (D**k's name violates the bad-word filter)
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- b
- - July 2, 2010 at 14:41:33
Everybody....now calm down and think this through. This could work to our advantage. We simply allow our lawns grow over weeds and all, hence our property values will drop which will reduce the amount we send to the circus on duckworth street in taxes.
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- Piotr
- - July 2, 2010 at 14:39:57
[Ger Okimi from Hamilton, ON wrote:] a cup of coffee with caffeine is more toxic than the weed killer mixture that is sprayed on lawns. check that one out. Sure, there is a way to check that one out - how about you drink your weed killer mixture instead of coffee for a year or two, and report here how your health has improved. Put your money where your mouth is, Ger.
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- Darrel
- - July 1, 2010 at 21:55:51
actually weed and feed is a herbicide not a pesticide people, get it it straight. and it is not sprayed it is in pellet form so calm down with the pious rederick about breathing it in. pellets are not airborne so what is to sniff there? I think many of you have no clue if you think everything is a spray. spray this and spray that... too funny. and good luck with dropping property taxes, do you really believe that too? haha!! some people will believe anything
-
- Huh?
- - July 1, 2010 at 21:50:48
'all but the organic produce is dripping with the most incidious chemical bath you could imagine.' Sounds like someone needs to buy a clue.
-
- Nasty
- - July 1, 2010 at 21:50:37
Guess people just forget about organic weed and pest control these days. Far too much work involved in that now isn't it. Ya lazy slobs.
-
- Piotr
- - July 1, 2010 at 21:48:38
[Hank from Nfld wrote: Judie from NL you grew up in a chemical world, tell us, which one of those conditions did you acquire ? Is your brain fried? Go eat your eat your triple bacon etc...] That's an ill-posed argument - no control group - we will never know what any particular person could or could not have achieved if he/she haven't been exposed to the unnecessary chemicals. Maybe even you, Hank, would be able to present a cogent, well-informed and not-below-the-belt argument? But we will never know, now, won't we?
-
- Piotr
- - July 1, 2010 at 21:48:12
[Darrel from NL wrote: actually weed and feed is a herbicide not a pesticide people, get it it straight [...] haha!! some people will believe anything ] Webster's 9th New Collegiate Dictionary: Pesticide: an agent used to destroy pests ; Pest: PLANT or animal detrimental to man . Still feeling superior, Darrel?
-
- Eli
- - July 1, 2010 at 21:46:53
I agree with Ken from Paradise. Let the louts concentrate (if that's possible) on providing enough water for next summer. Dandelions will still give us a ground cover after the blossoms have gone all over creation but chinch bugs leave your place looking like it's been burned over.
-
- Jacko
- - July 1, 2010 at 21:46:45
I love it Shannon 'Eventually, all across NL, the battle will be lost against weeds and bugs.' You sound like American neo-con. The war against terrorism, the war against drugs, the war against weeds and bugs. Imagine, the audacity of those weeds and bugs trespassing on our property! Spraying poisons on our gardens is a God-given right! If I was nasty, I would email this thread to my mainland colleagues. They like a good laugh.
-
- gerry g
- - July 1, 2010 at 21:45:00
we are one of four provinces in canada that allow no general safety and welfare provisions in our municipalities act...while the quality of our food is always an issue, the reality is that people directly inhaling sprays outside their home is not a matter of choice. you choose what you buy, but you cant choose the air you breathe when your neigbours spray chemicals. I know myself i have smelt chemicals as far as ten minutes away when approaching a certain business that had sprayed. by the time you see the sign its usually too late
-
- Robert
- - July 1, 2010 at 21:44:09
I applaud council's action on this issue. We cannot tolerate poisoning our living space for cosmetic purposes - it should have been done years ago.
-
- Ken
- - July 1, 2010 at 21:41:28
A few new council members trying to make a name for themselves. They should spend more time on how to supply enough water to their residents next summer.
-
- Judie
- - July 1, 2010 at 21:40:37
While it is true that Newfoundland is in desperate need of more organic foods, why anyone would suggest that lawn pesticides are safe is simply adding insult to injury. Residential bans are intended to prohibit the unnecessary use of toxic chemicals in urban areas where children play and breathe. Preventing inhalation exposures of young children, with the chemicals going directly to their brain, by-passing liver, the cleansing organ. Here in our province pesticide misuse causing chemical tresspass is ongoing. This has to stop. Prevention is the key. Exposure to pesticide drift may cause birth defects, cancer, asthma, developmental disabilities and other long-term (or chronic) health effects. Pesticide drift can also harm the local environment by contaminating waterways, air, and soil, killing fish, birds and other wildlife. Pesticides can travel long distances and have been found as far as 80 kilometers away from where they were applied. When it comes to foods we have a choice to purchase local and organic foods, we have no choice when being exposed to the constant summer air pollution caused by pesticide drift in our windy province. http://sprayadvisory.webs.com/healthmedical.htm
-
- shannon
- - July 1, 2010 at 21:38:24
When my neighbour allows his lawn to become a weed seed manufacturing ground which spreads like wildfire over my property, that'll really help their health when I see them and give them a piece of my mind. Eventually, all across NL, the battle will be lost against weeds and bugs. Lawns as we know them will disappear. People will lose interest when they can't stop the weed spread from their lazy neighbours, and properties will look like overgrown junkyards as weeds compete and choke out lawn grasses (because that's what they do). I guess I'll just park a rusted out vehicle carcus on my lawn as the crown jewel while we continue on the rest of our lives eating pesticide/herbicide coated supermarket veggies and idle my hummer in the parking lot while buying them.
-
- Max
- - July 1, 2010 at 21:36:56
The level of knowledge/intelligence expressed by some contributors makes me wonder if they haven't already been sniffing pesticides!! All medical professionals have basically condemned the use of pesticides for cosmetic purposes. Anyone disputing that in today's world is, quite simply, low brow!!
-
- Hank
- - July 1, 2010 at 21:36:48
Judie from NL you grew up in a chemical world, tell us, which one of those conditions did you acquire ? Is your brain fried ? Go eat your eat your triple bacon cheese breakfast sandwich with that cigarette while driving to work emiting NOx, CO and CO2 from your tailpipe. Please don't text while driving, that's much more dangerous in the here and now with real-world tangible effects.
-
- dick
- - July 1, 2010 at 21:35:07
our council does whatever is popular at the time. how stupid!!!!! the follow the crowd mentality!! time for council to stick to financial issues not gardening issues!!! wake the hell up council!!! get your head out of your arse!! grow the city!!! forget the height restrictions and get on with it!!
-
- Taxpayer ll
- - July 1, 2010 at 21:30:38
Yes, lets ban lawn chemicals which disapate completely in about 24 hrs., yet toddle off to Dominion where all but the organic produce is dripping with the most incidious chemical bath you could imagine. That, to me, is why this argument is so silly...it is not what people put on their lawns that should have everyone up in arms, but what they put in thier children's mouths. The strawberrys and brocolli that you buy have more bug spray and herbicide on them then you can shake a spray can at. Unless you are going to roll around on a newly sprayed lawn, or eat the grass you have nothing to worry about, however all the washing in the world won't rid your veggies of whats been sprayed on them.
-
- P
- - July 1, 2010 at 21:25:42
Another ban. What happened to moderation? Will we ban women's cosmetics next? That industry is one of the biggest polluters on the planet. What about new cars? Ban those as well? New paint is cosmetic. Rusty cars still work fine. Many things are cosmetic in this world, should we ban all of them? Or should we find a way to live moderately without these knee-jerk reactions? Why aren't we banning lead-painted toys being sold in Canada? Oh, that's right, we are. The Telegram had an article here a week or so ago about this. Apparently we have regulations which ban lead-painted toys for sale in Canada, but we have no laws to enforce these regulations and the manufacturers are able to keep importing and selling them in Canada with impunity. This is all starting to sound a lot like opponents to the seal hunt, try focusing on more important matters folks.
-
- Ger
- - July 1, 2010 at 21:24:55
a cup of coffee with caffeine is more toxic than the weed killer mixture that is sprayed on lawns. check that one out.
-
- Piotr
- - July 1, 2010 at 21:22:12
[P from NL wrote:] Many things are cosmetic in this world, should we ban all of them? Well, if the risk they presetn bigger than the benefit they claim to provide - then answer YES. So, what's the overriding social benefit of cosmetic pesticides? That some of us would have a lawn made of non-native plants requiring more water to maintain and chemical? How exatly this justifies spraying carcinogenic and/or hormone-disrupting substances. so your neighbour's kids can breathe them in? The state has no place in the bedroom of the nation, but your are not spraying in your bedroom, aren't you? The moment you step outside, the moment you start to poison OTHER people, the moment when the price for your vanity is not paid by you but by your neighbours - then it is no longer the question of your right only, now, is it?
-
- Xavier
- - July 1, 2010 at 21:21:53
gerry g benoit from st. johns, nl... I don't think you can smell weed'n feed. I think if people had used it properly, like once or twice a year in their lawn spreaders (it's not a spray, they are pellets), it would work fine and wouldn't be any more of a problem than household chemicals going down the drain inside the home. The problem is people using it every two weeks throughout the summer months when it isn't necessary. Furthermore, for safety reasons, domestic weed'n feed (the only type consumers can buy in hardware stores) is a very 'watered down' version of the commercial stuff. By the way, many human medications exit the body in active form and end up in our oceans as well. Should we ban some of those next ? Did you know that many of those cannot be metabolized in the ocean and they end up coming back full circle in seafood ? Weed'n feed doesn't.
-
- Jay
- - July 1, 2010 at 21:20:43
Telegram said, 'Let's hope the government moves quickly here.' Yes, because goodness knows this is the most important thing going on in our province right now. Clearly H1N1 planning should be tossed aside like an old shoe because we need to immediately if not sooner ban weed-n-feed. 24 hour snow clearing on the highway? Back seat, cause we've got to move quickly to ban certain kinds of fertilizer. This is the Most Important Thing the Tely can think of? Really? To paraphrase D**k: perhaps gardening is not what local councils should be concerned about right now. (D**k's name violates the bad-word filter)
-
- b
- - July 1, 2010 at 21:18:08
Everybody....now calm down and think this through. This could work to our advantage. We simply allow our lawns grow over weeds and all, hence our property values will drop which will reduce the amount we send to the circus on duckworth street in taxes.
-
- Piotr
- - July 1, 2010 at 21:15:34
[Ger Okimi from Hamilton, ON wrote:] a cup of coffee with caffeine is more toxic than the weed killer mixture that is sprayed on lawns. check that one out. Sure, there is a way to check that one out - how about you drink your weed killer mixture instead of coffee for a year or two, and report here how your health has improved. Put your money where your mouth is, Ger.
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