Decision Date: April 15, 1996

Panel: Judith C. Lee

This is an appeal of the decision of the Pesticide Administrator to issue a pesticide use permit allowing ground application sprayings of FORAY 48K (BTK) against gypsy moths on 20 hectares of public and some private land in New Westminster. The Board granted a stay pending the outcome of this appeal. The Appellants’ grounds for appealing the permit were endangered human and environmental health, spray ineffectiveness, spraying program criteria and the existence of alternative means of moth eradication.

The Respondent had to show that, in this case, spraying would cause an unreasonable adverse effect. The Board accepted expert evidence that spraying would have some adverse impact on health and other species. The Board also accepted evidence that spraying only some of the area’s land would not provide the intended result: eradication. The Board held that the Administrator’s failure to consider lower-risk control methods advocated in policy, his failure to assess site-specific considerations and his departure from egg-mass spraying thresholds were unreasonable in this case. The Board recommended adding health and environmental monitoring conditions to permits. The Board weighed limited spraying effectiveness against the risk of harm to the environment and health and cancelled the permit. The appeal was allowed.