\u201cIf protected areas are being sprayed, I think the public has a right to know,\u201d said Caroline Lubbe-D\u2019Arcy, the group\u2019s chair.\u00a0CHMA has reached out to the Department of Environment and Climate Change for comment.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
One of the maps shows areas of Crown land<\/a> that have been treated with herbicide from 1969 up to the present date.\u00a0Private land isn\u2019t included because that data simply isn\u2019t available, according to Lubbe-D\u2019Arcy.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n A second map shows areas of land where the government approved spray licenses during the 2022 spray season<\/a> for both public and private forests.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Both maps also show the locations of protected watersheds<\/a> that provide approximately 300,000 New Brunswickers with their drinking water.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Some pesticide use allowed in protected watersheds<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Regulations under the provincial Clean Water Act<\/a> outline the activities permitted in designated watersheds. Under the regulations<\/a>, protected watersheds are broken down into three zones: the watercourse itself, a 75-metre \u201csetback zone\u201d on its banks, and the larger area.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Some application of pesticide \u2014 an umbrella term that includes herbicide \u2014 is allowed within the buffer zone and larger area.\u00a0Stop Spraying NB wants that practice to end, including on private lands that fall within protected watersheds.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Calculations by Stop Spraying NB indicate that the province issued permits last year that allowed for spraying on 55 hectares within the protected watersheds.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n That includes some blocks of land on the southeast edge of the Turtle Creek watershed, which supplies Greater Moncton with its drinking water supply.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n The maps show no sign of herbicide use within the protected Ogden Mill Brook Watershed, located near the Trans-Canada Highway and Walker Road.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Sackville\u2019s drinking water supply comes from three drilled wells in that area, according to Jon Eppell, Director of Engineering and Public Works for Tantramar.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n However, herbicide spraying licenses were issued last year for numerous blocks of privately-held land north of the Trans-Canada Highway.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n The closest block is a 2.5\u2013hectare parcel located about five kilometres north of the watershed. The province gave J.D. Irving Limited permission to spray that land, along with multiple blocks around Big Lake and the Memramcook River, roughly 10\u201315 kilometres north of the protected watershed.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Pressure ahead of byelections<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.chmafm.com\/welcome\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/StopSpraying2.jpg\")
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