by Matthew Kemshaw
After fifteen years of chemical free pest control, the E&N Railway on Vancouver Island is moving to reinstate herbicide spraying along its rail line. Community members up and down the line are concerned and with good cause; pesticides are madeto kill. They want answers. Why, after fifteen years, are we regressing back to harmful environmental pollutants? What are the pertinent health concerns of such regression? And who do we contact to fi ght against this spraying?
The rail line has been in operation on its run from Victoria to Courtenay since August 13, 1886 when, on the east side of Shawnigan Lake, Prime Minister John A. MacDonald drove the last rail spike through the earth. The Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway (E&N), ran independently up the eastern coast of Vancouver Island for over ninety years until it was purchased by the larger VIA Rail, who continued to provide passenger and freight service until Rail American purchased the line in 1998. Working in affi liation with VIA, Rail America has stopped freight service on the line as of 2001 amid increasing concern over the train’s economic viability within a changing modern transportation landscape. With fi nancial concerns growing and fewer people choosing rail as a means of travel, the E&N is looking to cut costs and increase effi ciency wherever possible; and so we arrive at the current dilemma of proposed herbicide use.
The immediacy of the situation demands that those who see the potential for harm from herbicide spraying act now. The Pest Management Plan (PMP) for the E&N Rail line, developed by Streamline Environmental Consulting, is to take effect this coming spring. Two strains of non-residual herbicides will be used to control what Streamline deems as “the present, intolerable vegetation conditions” which exist along the railway tracks. While concessions have been made to limit the amount and types of herbicides to be used (as a result of previous community outcry), the two strains still pose considerable health concerns to adjacent communities.
Both strains are deemed as non-residual herbicides which act only when in contact with plant specimens. Unlike other herbicides which can linger in the soil for up to fi ve years, these two contain molecules which are quickly absorbed by soil particles rendering them inactive and less mobile. While these non-residual herbicide sprays are better than their residual and temporary residual cousins, they are in no way free from health concern.
Glyphosate
One of the two sprays to be used contains the active ingredient glyphosate and is virtually identical to the commercially available Round-Up weed killer. While glyphosate is the most common agricultural pesticide used in the world, its formulations have been shown to pose a plethora of problems to both animal and plant communities living around treated areas. [See “It’s Offi cial, Or At Least Scientifi c: Round Up Kills Frogs,” Watershed Sentinel, Sept/Oct. 2005.] Some herbicides also have a tendency to accumulate in the fatty tissue of animals that come into contact with them.
The risk of water contamination is perhaps the most signifi cant concern to human and environmental health. While the active toxin glyphosphate is claimed to become inactive upon contact with the soil, up to 99% of the components of a given herbicide spray are inert and unstudied. Some studies suggest that many relatively weak or commercially “safe” sprays can actually be causes of a variety of cancers in humans.
Sylgard 390
While herbicides obviously pose some serious threats for those living in the path of the E&N’s trains, they are not the only worry. Streamline’s PMP proposes the use of a silicon based surfactant known as Sylgard 390 in concert with the herbicides to help improve the effi cacy and uptake of herbicide sprays. While the chemical will reduce the overall amount of herbicide needed to do the job, it is known to be highly lethal to amphibians.
All of these worrisome factors could be negated were it not for “the present, intolerable vegetation conditions” which exist along the E&N rail line. As the train pulls out of downtown Victoria it passes through nearly every major community on the east coast of Vancouver Island before it reaches its fi nal destination in Courtenay. Each community is breeding pests on the tracks, small but persistent biomass which climbs up the steel, over the rail ties and into the path of each and every locomotive that passes. This is a concern, as too much plant life can cause train derailments, lure grazing wildlife into the path of oncoming trains, and obscure signage along the route. The growing must stop. Apparently herbicides are the only way.
Mechanical Control: Problems
For the last fi fteen years mechanical control of plant pests has been the main method of overcoming the problem of plant growth. In this method, a cumbersome mechanical train bearing the machinery to heat water to a high, high temperature ran slowly along the tracks, zapping everything under and on the rail ties with a super heated fi lm of steam. The problems with this treatment are its costs, due mainly to the fact that it requires a huge amount of fuel. Global warming never liked mechanical control, and neither did the E&N’s accountants. Hand treatment is also required to remove pesky scotch broom from the side of the rails, which created considerable headaches as well for the accountants.
The fi nal problem with mechanical control is the fact that it is not doing a supremely effective job. Plants that are killed by the steam lie dead on the tracks, and these plants create soil for more plants to grow. And so we arrive at this juncture of intolerable vegetation conditions. Herbicide sprays are the most cost effi cient solution and so they have been awarded the job, despite the risk.
Community Actors
This risk has spurred a diverse array of actors into speaking out against the proposed spraying. Alberni-Qualicum MLA Scott Fraser has spoken out in the legislature. School districts up and down the island have voiced concern. Many municipal leaders have also voiced strong objections to the project, viewing it as a matter which can only adversely affect their community. Individuals and groups from virtually every place touched by the line have also been adamant in protest against herbicide spraying in their own backyard. Growing awareness has created growing concern to the point now where people are starting to act.
Protests, although not yet scheduled, are gaining momentum as leaders speak of days of action in which those opposed to this project can come out and voice their concerns. The idea of a protest train full of dissenters to be greeted by further protesters at each stop is rapidly spreading. The hope is that increased awareness will create increased dissention against the project, to the point where E&N offi cials, the government, or both will realize that herbicide spraying in our back yards is not an option. To come on board contact Jill Thompson at the Sierra Club’s BC Chapter in Victoria, phone 250-386-5255 or email jill@sierraclubbc.org.
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Matthew Kemshaw, a student, environmentalist, and friend, would rather not be explained in 25 words or less.
[From WS January/February 2006]