News Release
Office of the Official Opposition

Opposition provides information to Minister

October 21, 2005

"I am encouraged that the minister is moving forward on this issue since I made the initial call for an investigation," said Barrett. "The minister has written asking that I assist the department by providing them with the information I have on this issue."

The Liberal MHA has written the Minister detailing the information he has at this point and has outlined the case for conducting a full investigation and testing. "The minister and the department have the resources and expertise at their disposal to conduct a proper investigation and I encourage them to do so given the seriousness of the potential health implications involved."

This matter first came to Barrett’s attention when an individual contacted the opposition office inquiring if Agent Orange had been used in this province. The individual involved had made inquiries to several other government offices and was not able to find answers. This person has concerns that his health may have been impacted by the use of these chemicals in the area where he lived. Based on this initial inquiry and subsequent preliminary research into this issue, Barrett felt a more comprehensive investigation and testing by the Department of Environment and Conservation was justified.

"Upon a review of newspaper articles from the period, my initial concerns were justified. In writing the minister I provided information about several newspaper articles from the 1970s and 80s which were cause for concern. One article indicated that a component of the defoliant Agent Orange, 2,4,5, T had been sprayed on 61 hectares of land in Central Newfoundland. Another article, which did not name the chemicals used, had the headline Berry Pickers cautioned on power line chemical spray and related to the spraying done between Deer Lake and Pasadena. There were also articles that indicated other chemicals such as Dybar and Tordon 10K had been used in this province over the years."

Agent Orange is a defoliant which was used during the Vietnam War and has been linked to health concerns. Commercial variants of Agent Orange were commonly used across Canada in the 1950s, 60s and 70s until such chemicals were banned in Canada in 1985. The implications of this past use is just now being discovered and investigated.

Dear Minister Osborne,

Thank you for your response to my inquiry and I further encourage you to use the resources of your office and department to conduct a comprehensive investigation and tests to determine if Agent Orange, its derivatives or other dangerous herbicides were used in this province.

As you and officials in your department are aware, the potential health implications of Agent Orange and its derivatives have been highlighted by several sources. Commercial varieties of Agent Orange were commonly used across Canada in the 1950s, 60s and 70s until such chemicals were banned in Canada in 1985.

The implications of this past use is just now being discovered and investigated. For example, in New Brunswick, the provincial government and its crown-owned power utility, NB Power, applied commercial versions of Agent Orange on forests and along power lines in that province. The workers who applied the spray demanded and eventually received government compensation because of health problems resulting from exposure.

I have also read media reports where, Wayne Dwernychuk, an environmental consultant who is an expert in this area, said that people exposed to forestry and power companies sprays have cause to be worried. The situation at Canadian Forces base Gagetown is maybe the best known case of usage of these chemicals and soil, water and vegetation tests are being done to see if there are any lingering effects of toxic herbicides in the 1950s and 1960s.

This matter first came to my attention when an individual contacted our office inquiring if Agent Orange had been used in this province. The individual involved had made inquiries to several other government offices and was not able to get any answers. This person has concerns that his health may have been impacted by the use of these chemicals in the area where he lived. Based on this initial inquiry and subsequent preliminary research into this issue, I feel a more comprehensive investigation of this matter and testing by your department is justified.

Upon a review of newspaper articles from the period, I found that my initial concerns were justified. The most alarming newspaper article was a Canadian Press Story from February 4, 1981. In this article, then Premier Brian Peckford pledged to conduct a thorough investigation to determine if residents of central Newfoundland were exposed to spraying which had occurred in 1978. He was responding to statements by then Minister of Lands and Forests, Charles Power, that 61 hectares of land in central Newfoundland were sprayed with 2,4,5,T a component of the defoliant Agent Orange. While such an investigation may have been conducted at the time, it is not currently available at the Legislative Library where all provincial government reports are supposed to be deposited. Given the new information which has been made available about these chemicals since that time, a full investigation is certainly warranted at this point.

Another article from the Western Star (August 10, 1978) had the headline Berry Pickers cautioned on power line chemical spray. This had added significance given that the 1961 memo in the New Brunswick case revealed that several people in a small village became ill after eating raspberries near power lines that had been sprayed with Agent Orange. The news article in the Western Star was based on a statement released by Bowater Power Company warning people that power line right-of-ways between Deer Lake and Pasadena had been treated with a brush control chemical. The article went on to reveal that the company had been applying chemicals to its transmission line right-of-ways for the past 13 years under the control and approval of the Environment Division of the Department of Consumer Affairs and Environment.

There were also articles that indicated other chemicals had been used in this province over the years. For example, according to an article in the publication Canadian Pulp and Paper Industry in July 1972, Dybar was dropped from planes for several years by the Newfoundland Forest Research Centre to evaluate possible use in killing brush and speeding up the growth of spruce and fir in this province. A Daily News article (August 15, 1978) indicated a chemical called Tordon 10K had been used by Newfoundland Light and Power for vegetation management along power lines on the Burin Peninsula. While I do not have the professional expertise to comment on the dangers involved in the use of these two chemicals, the department should also examine the potential health and environmental implications of these and any other such chemicals that have been used in the province.

In the process of investigating what chemicals were used in this province, concerns were raised by others about the possibility that dangerous chemicals may have also been used along the rail beds, around military bases and by pulp and paper companies in this province. While I do not yet have evidence confirming that the chemicals used in these cases were of a dangerous nature, the general practice at that time and the possible serious health implications involved, further investigation would certainly be prudent.

Your office has the necessary resources and the authority to conduct the kind of investigation and testing required to determine the impacts of the use of these chemical agents. I encourage you to take this matter seriously and move forward in a timely manner given the seriousness of the potential health implications involved.

I look forward to receiving the detailed terms of reference for your study, including testing which will be done at various locations around the province. This is an issue which I take very seriously and I will be following the progress of this investigation. If I can be of further assistance to you on this or any other matter please do not hesitate to contact me.

Sincerely,

Percy Barrett, MHA

Media Contact:
Jeff Mackey
Caucus Communications
Office of the Official Opposition
709-729-6427