ST. JOHN’S — Sierra Club environmentalists are appalled the province is doing a helicopter herbicide spray on woodlands this summer using a chemical opposed in neighbouring provinces.
Natural Resources has called tender for charter of a helicopter to apply the herbicide VisionMax in central and western Newfoundland, on about 348 cutovers and young plantations between August and September.
The herbicide has been opposed by the Sierra Club in both Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, with community campaigns in some areas to stop sprays.
This province has been using it since the 1980s, according to the Department of Natural Resources.
While manufacturer Monsanto has described it as a low-risk pesticide, the Sierra Club contends the active ingredient in VisionMax — glyphosate — is linked to respiratory problems, birth defects, miscarriages, cancer and is toxic to fish.
