Stop BC Hydro’s plans to spray pesticides
Dear editor,
BC Hydro recently put British Columbians on notice that they’ve been given a licence to spray 2.4 Dinitrophenyl and other herbicides throughout B.C., and the Comox Valley is on their list. 2.4D, by the way, is a well documented and powerful carcinogen.
I had just finished reading about a new study in Japan that discovered a pineapple pesticide (heptachlor) has found its way into the Hawaiian milk supply and men who drink it are more likely to develop Parkinson’s than other population groups. This pesticide has been taken off the market but is obviously still causing neurological damage. And now? We read that BC Hydro has permission to spray, over the next five years, some dangerous chemicals and the Comox Valley is to be a part of their program.
Why do we care? We lived in a rural area in the Alberta foothills for 20 years in the mid-70s. Without any warning, Trans Alta heavily sprayed our ditches to control vegetation that might eventually reach overhead lines. (Given the growth rate in Alberta that might have taken a half century or more to happen!) An angry response from our community seemed to stop the spraying - at least for awhile. Dioxin was one of the ingredients in their spray, a chemical used in Agent Orange which was used as a defoliant during wars.
Our vegetable garden was unusable after that, and the ditches, which were a bountiful source of wild raspberries and strawberries, were black for years. There were many areas in Canada (Gagetown and Ontario) sprayed during the mid-70s and the devastating fallout for the people exposed compares to what we’re suffering in our family. Our older daughter has MS and our younger daughter has early-onset Parkinson’s. Our older daughter worked in a high school with kids at risk and developmental differences and loved her job, and our younger was a daycare worker who is now in a care home in the Valley. Neither will ever work again, enjoy the sports they were passionate about or experience a normal social life.
The lives of so many people have been destroyed by the spraying of pesticides to control vegetation, and we hope that you’ll do everything you can to stop the spraying.
To read more on what’s happening in Canada in regard to court cases regarding pesticide damage and other relevant material please Google these websites. We don’t ever want others to go through what our family has suffered.
www.nbcnews.com/pesticides&Parkinson’s
www.agentorangecanada.com/forum.php
Rosemary Baxter,
Courtenay