Your PEI lawn care service may want to poison you

Customers didn't know dangerous chemicals were used

Lawn care companies tried to spray dangerous pesticides while customers didn’t realize what was happening

Stephen Pate, NJN Network, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada, July 8, 2009

We were shocked to receive one then another notice from local lawn care companies that they intended to use dangerous chemicals on our neighbors yards. When we spoke to the neighbor they both insisted they didn’t know 2-4D and Dicamba were being used and would put a stop to it.

These chemicals will soon be banned in PEI and are banned in many jurisdictions already.

2-4D is one of the elements of the infamous “Agent Orange” that the US military used in Vietnam to defoliate the jungle. Cancer and birth defects from Agent Orange are well documented. Canadians living near the military testing range in south of Fredericton New Brunswick have reported cancer from their exposure to 2-4D.

Atlantic Graduate insisted they are spraying 2-4D

Atlantic Graduate notice - click for larger image

When I got the notice in my mail box from Atlantic Graduate, I went across the street to see my Mark Ledwell, my neighbor whose house was listed on the notice. Mark was adamant that he was opposed to chemical sprays and called the lawn care company from his cell phone.

Robert Gallant replied to my email disingenuously. “You source of information is false, the 2-4d back in those days is not the same 2-4d health Canada register’s today.” Then sarcastically he added “If you’d like we can treat your property at the sametime!”

Obviously, Robert isn’t a graduate chemist. 2-4D is a chemical not a brand. It hasn’t changed or become safe. “2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid … is sold in various formulations under a wide variety of brand names. 2,4-D can be found in lawn herbicide mixtures such as “Weed B Gon MAX”, “PAR III”, “Trillion”, “Tri-Kil”, “Killex” and “Weedaway Premium 3-Way XP Turf Herbicide”. All of these mixtures typically contain three active ingredients: 2,4-D, mecoprop and dicamba.” Wikipedia

Nutri-Lawn are spraying 2-4D too!

This week Nutri-Lawn who call themselves “Ecology Friendly Lawn Care” announced they were going to spread cancer causing 2-4D in our neighborhood as well. Again I spoke the Wes MacAleer my neighbor and he said “I had no idea they were going to use those chemicals. We told them not to come.”

An email from Nutri-Lawn asking them to consider more ecologically sound lawn care received a blunt mind-your-own business reply.

Apparently Nutri-Lawn and Atlantic Graduate plan to poison the lawns on PEI as long as they can.

The chemicals are admitted to be dangerous and they warn you to stay off the lawn for 24 hours. Of course they are dangerous. They will soon be banned on PEI.

Thanks to my neighbors who reacted with concern for the environment and the safety of PEI.

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