Minudie -
Dead trees and bushes line the roadside on Lower Cove Road, a quiet rural area appreciated by many for its natural setting.
The effects appear to be the result of an apparent government-sponsored roadside spraying program that resident Myrna Matheson said she was horrified to witness in late August, when she went on a bicycle trip with her daughter and two grand-daughters to the nearby Minudie museum.
"On the way back, about 1-1.5 km down the road, I looked and my heart just sank," she said. "There were three or four trucks coming towards us, and there was a hose on the first truck, about the size of a fire hose, spraying into the ditches. I was just sick."
The sprayers stopped while Matheson and her party passed by, but she said they smelled the spray for the rest of their trip home.
Protection of the environment is a high priority for Matheson and her husband, who own 50 acres of property and a seasonal residence in Minudie. They allow trees to grow freely, and grow a garden without pesticides or fertilizers.
She said she had not seen roadside spraying in the area since 37 years ago, when she said much of the area's bird population was lost. She admits she stood idly by back then, but is committed to not doing so this time.
Calls to the Department of Transportation revealed that the chemical used in the spraying was picloram, an herbicide used for killing unwanted broadleaf plants. While department officials claim it has low toxicity and is harmless to humans and wildlife, Matheson is not convinced of that.
Through her own research, with help from Halifax's Ecology Action Centre, she said she found quite a few things about that spray that she is concerned about, including potential damage to the liver, kidney and spleen, and toxicity to juvenile fish.
"My concern and goal is to keep on this until it is banned," she said. "Anything that kills a tree is also going to kill insects, and get into our water supply. We had those two hurricanes where it rained and rained. That spray would go down those ditches and into Mill Creek, which feeds the Bay of Fundy."
She sent her concerns to Premier Darrell Dexter, Environment Minister Sterling Belliveau and Cumberland South MLA Murray Scott, all of who passed her letter on to Brad Skinner of the local Department of Environment office in Amherst. Skinner is investigating whether proper spraying procedures were followed, and has assured Matheson that he will report back to her in mid-November, she said.
In a recent interview with the Amherst Daily News, Skinner confirmed that Cumberland County was the only area of the province to have a spraying program this year and added he plans to hold discussions with the Transportation Department about the need to continue spraying in future years.
Cosmetic spraying should be banned altogether, according to Matheson.
"As far as I'm concerned, this is a cosmetic spray," she said. "You can go down the highway and see then using a chipper. That works just fine."
