Panel: G. Ronald Knight, James Warr, Dr. Peter Reynolds
The appellant appealed pesticide use permits issued to the respondent to apply pesticide to a large area forested land in Eastern Vancouver Island. The respondent was injecting pesticide into stumps on harvested land. The appellant’s main ground of appeal was that there was a serious concern of contamination to the water supply of the Eastern part of the Island including those of Nanaimo and Parksville.
The Board upheld the permit finding that there was no evidence of unreasonable adverse effect when the pesticide was used as required by the permit. The limited number of streams in the spray area will be adequately protected by buffer zones. A site inspection revealed there was adequate soil to prevent all but minimal leaching into groundwater. The Board found no evidence supporting an alternative method of application.
