What is the harm in a little yellow flower?
That is the question some Cochrane residents are asking after voicing their frustrations with the town’s herbicide use.
“It feels like the use of herbicides in Cochrane is outdated – it is more harmful to kids and more harmful to families,” said Aaron Lauritsen, Cochrane resident and father.
Following the town’s weed bylaw, parks and open space crews spray herbicides annually in the spring/summer seasons in local parks, greenbelts and sports fields as required when a threshold is exceeded.
Gerry Murphy, manager of parks and open spaces for the town, explained the herbicide use for noxious weeds is the most cost-effective and “frankly the most effective.”
“We have all kinds of alternatives to spraying that we implement … fertilizing, trimming and aerating but we use chemicals when cultural practices don’t work,” Murphy said.
While other cities in Alberta have banned the use of herbicides, including the city of Edmonton where officials recently switched to “goatscaping” to deal with the dandelion problem, Cochrane sprayed more than 45 separate areas this year, with some areas as small as 10 square metres.
“During our first year (in Cochrane) we were absolutely shocked and saddened to smell the incredible, the incredibly strong chemicals wafting from our park just across the street from us,” Breanna Purdie, Cochrane resident explained in a letter to the Cochrane Eagle.
“We certainly don’t pollute the foothills and mountains that we frequent and uphold with great wonder and awe, so why is it acceptable to habitually try to terminate and poison and sterilize the exact same delicate nature that is in our very own backyards?”
Lauritsen, a father of a one-year-old daughter and of a dog owner said he avoids sprayed green spaces in Cochrane now.
“Those are chemicals no one wants on their kids and animals,” Lauritsen said.
“Not spraying is the lesser of two evils.”
The herbicide applications in Cochrane went from May 29 to June 15, targeting 47 separate areas within the five parks operations zones.
“As long as I’ve been here, dandelions have been on the bylaw and we have to control them,” Murphy said.
Town officials said they use approved Health Canada products including Par3, Round Up and Milestone for the green spaces but residents said they would like to see Cochrane go in an herbicide-free direction.
“Herbicides are a short-term fix … I hope the leaders of the town of Cochrane, ‘the New West,’ can stand up with new age and modern growth mindset and protect all that is natural in its many forms, including its citizens,” Purdie said.
