Court finds pesticide use potent

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Subject:     Court finds pesticide use potent: Smithers woman wins victory over B.C. government
     Date:     Fri, 10 Oct 2003
    From:     Stephen Tvedten <steve@getipm.com>
Organization:     Get Set Inc. (www.getipm.com)

To:     Paul Helliker <phelliker@cdpr.ca.gov>
          Director, State of California, Department of Pesticide Regulation 

Sep 30, 2003 . pg. 6 - Nelson Daily News - Court finds pesticide use potent: Smithers woman wins victory over B.C. government by Paul Willcocks .

VICTORIA - A Smithers woman has won a victory over the B.C. government in her battle against the use of a potent pesticide to battle the Mountain Pine beetle infestation.

The BC Supreme Court ruled that the Environmental Appeal Board failed to consider all the risks of the arsenic-based pesticide MSMA before approving it for use in the vast Morice Forest District around Houston.

Madame Justice Carol Ross ruled that the board acknowledged there were risks to humans and the environment in using the pesticide , but failed to consider whether those risks were reasonable given the problem.

The legal battle was waged by Josette Wier of Smithers.

Environmental groups have been raising concerns about the use of MSMA, which is introduced into beetle-infested trees through axe slashes made on their trunks. The powerful pesticide is drawn through the trunk, killing the larvae and adult beetles.

A forestry ministry spokesperson said government lawyers are reviewing the decision. The MSMA program approved in the environmental appeal board decision has already been completed, she said. No new applications for using the pesticide are planned.

The ruling will hearten environmentalists gearing up for a battle with the provincial government over the best methods of dealing with the worst infestation in the province's history. Mountain pine beetles have infected more than 45 million cubic metres of Interior lumber, an amount equal to two-thirds of B.C.'s annual harvest. Some 5.7 million hectares of forest have been affected.

The beetles lay their eggs under the bark, and their larvae eat enough of the tree to weaken or kill it before emerging and flying to another tree.

Premier Gordon Campbell has declared war on the beetles, calling the infestation an economic crisis.

But so far stopping the spread has proved difficult, and the province has organized a symposium in Kelowna Oct. 30 and 31 to find ways to deal with the threat.

Campbell told the Union of B.C. Municipalities that he's prepared to allow logging in provincial parks to reduce the infestation, a major change in government policy.

"If there's a requirement that we extract logs from the parks then we'll do that," he said. "This year alone, the pine beetle consumed four times more forest than the B.C. forest fires."

Wier argued that the province hadn't considered all the risks of MSMA, a pesticide sold under the brand name of May 14, 2001 to October 31, 2003.

Her earlier efforts had convinced the government to abandon efforts to use the pesticide in Tweedsmuir Provincial Park.

But she challenged the permits for areas outside the park. The appeal board hadn't considered all the risks before approving the application of MSMA to selected trees, she said. The toxic substances could move through the environment and affect animals in the forests, she said.

Justice Ross agreed. She found the appeal board hadn't considered the risks or the possibility of alternative ways of dealing with the beetles.

Credit: Sterling News Service -- Copyright NELSON DAILY NEWS 2003)

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