A pair of Kamloops lawn-care companies say a ban on cosmetic pesticide use would put them out of business, but won’t stop the use of weed-killing products in the city.
Jackie Doherty of Grassroots Lawncare and Terry Omrod of NutriLawn were at Tuesday’s city council meeting to speak against a pesticide ban proposed by Coun. Tina Lange earlier this month.
Debate on the ban was postponed until at least July to allow members of the public to air their views on the issue.
Both Doherty and Omrod showed council pictures of weed-killing products on the shelves of city stores, which they said would likely still be used by residents under a ban.
“I really doubt the stores are wasting valuable space on pallets of products that are not selling,” Doherty said.
Omrod said lawn-care companies use far fewer pesticides than many people think because they only spray weeds, noting the products are used in conjunction with fertilizer, aeration and other pest-management techniques.
Meanwhile, other products available to the public, such as weed killers meant to be attached to a garden hose for spraying, encourage a “blanket” application, he said
“I don’t think a lot of people really understand what we do and how we do it,” Omrod told council.
The pair said the pesticides they use are already regulated by the federal government to ensure safety and companies that apply them in B.C. face other regulations, including regular inspections.
Doherty said many of her customers are already planning to purchase their own weed killers if the ban is adopted.
She said since they will be operating outside of the law, they won’t be subject to the same regulations or required to post the kind of signage her firm must erect to warn those who want to avoid pesticides.
“The only people who will be targeted are the applicators,” she said of a ban.
If the city is serious about banning cosmetic pesticides, Doherty said, it should strike a committee to look at the issue more closely or put it to a referendum in November when the performing arts centre goes to a vote.
The pesticide debate will continue when council next meets on July 14.
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