next message in archive
no next message in thread
previous message in archive
Index of Subjects
EARTH ACTION 81 Prince Street Charlottetown, PEI C1A 4R3 Phone: 902-621-0719 / 368-7337 Fax: 902-621-0717 (call first) Email: slabchuk@isn.net NEWS RELEASE PEI GOVERNMENT SACRIFICES WILDLIFE TO POTATO INDUSTRY Tuesday, July 25, 1998 - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Charlottetown - PEI Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Eric Hammill and Minister of Fisheries and Environment Kevin MacAdam are protecting corporate profits and the potato industry at the expense of wildlife says Earth Action spokesperson Sharon Labchuk. The environmental group presented evidence to both ministers that the pesticide carbofuran, sold as Furadan 480F, kills birds and other small mammals. Earth Action, the PEI Federation of Wildlife and the PEI Humane Society want the pesticide banned on PEI but government says more studies are needed. " Hammill and MacAdam are stalling and birds are dying. They do what the chemical and potato industries tell them to do," says Labchuk. "We gave government a pile of information documenting the terrible effects this pesticide has on birds, other wildlife and pets. Most of our information comes from Dr. Pierre Mineau with the Canadian Wildlife Service of Environment Canada. He's been working for years trying to get carbofuran banned and has been successful for many of its uses. However, the liquid formulation is still allowed for use on potatoes and he says there is clear evidence of bird kills on potato field edges. Even the manufacture's label says "Keep out of areas inhabited by fish, birds and wildlife, as this product is highly toxic to such animals." These creatures die horribly painful deaths when they're exposed through inhalation of spray drift, preening feathers, drinking or eating contaminated food or contact with sprayed surfaces." Labchuk says carbofuran is a high use pesticide on PEI according to the government's annual pesticides sales report but it's use is completely unnecessary. " There would be no economic impact on any grower if this poison was banned. An Agriculture Canada document says that if liquid carbofuran was banned growers would still have many options for insect control. What are the economic and environmental impacts of dead birds, dead mice, dead frogs and a tarnished image in the tourism market? It makes no sense to keep using this outdated dangerous pesticide," says Labchuk. -more- 2 A ban on carbofuran is also supported by the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the World Wildlife Fund and the American Ornithologists' Union, one of the world's largest associations of ornithologists. "How can the PEI government justify spending taxpayers dollars on more studies when this pesticide has already been studied to death by the world's leading experts? It's clear who's calling the shots here - the chemical and potato industries," says Labchuk. " We receive many calls from the public with concerns about declining wildlife populations and massive fish kills. A new report commissioned by the British government documents an alarming crash in bird populations in Britain over the past 25 years and implicates pesticides as one of the major causes. Between land clearing and pesticide use PEI wildlife, without a doubt, is in trouble. And we need to spend more money on studies? Let's spend what little money we do have on solutions." - 30 - For more information: Sharon Labchuk 621-0719
next message in archive
no next message in thread
previous message in archive
Index of Subjects