Penticton contemplates ban on pesticide use

Penticton council is pursuing a ban of the non-essential or cosmetic use of pesticides and herbicides in the city.

Council voted Monday evening to direct city staff to prepare a report regarding a model bylaw to implement the ban, as well as to investigate creating an information campaign to educate the public about alternatives to herbicides and pesticides.

According to Coun. Gary Litke, Penticton is one of the last municipalities in the Southern Interior to implement such a ban, with Kamloops, Revelstoke, Salmon Arm and Kelowna among the many which have already done so.

“This issue first came to the agricultural committee because of the economic fears of grape growers who have their crops affected by the over spraying of 2,4-D from neighbours,” explained Litke, a member of the agricultural committee.

The committee had cosmetic-pesticide expert Mario Lanthier, a consultant for Integrated Pest Management, come to their Oct. 21-meeting to speak to them on the issue.

Lanthier told the committee that many municipalities had already banned 2,4-D and other herbicides and pesticides used for non-essential purposes, noting that in many of the communities, campaigns were used to promote alternatives to pesticides, such as using vinegar or simply digging, according to Likte.

According to a committee report, comments were made that 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) is an active ingredient found in commercial herbicides such as Weed’ N Feed and Killex.

“2,4-D is very toxic to grape vines. The main concern is from vapours which can move large distances,” read the report.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer has labeled 2,4-D as a class 2B carcinogen, raising concerns that the substance may cause cancer in humans.

“Why don’t we make it even stronger and ban the sale of these pesticides (and herbicides) in the City of Penticton, like 27 other communities have done in the province?” suggested Coun. John Vassilaki. “Let’s not only ban the use of them but the sale of them.”

However, city CAO Dennis Back raised concerns that such a ban on the sale of the products might violate the provincially mandated Community Charter.

“I think we have to be a little bit cautious here because there are people who may be able to utilize these things respectfully. And vinegar doesn’t work on everything,” said Mayor Dan Ashton, before calling for the vote which unanimously directed staff to research the issue.

city@pentictonwesternnews.com

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