HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2011-04-21, Page 6PAGE 6. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, APRIL 21, 2011.
Regulations governing the spread
of the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB)
were changed drastically on March
25 and Forest Conservation Officer
Dave Pullen implored Huron County
Council to take action.
Pullen appeared to council at the
April 13 meeting and said that the
new regulations set up by the
Canadian Food Inspection Agency
(CFIA) will hurt southern Ontario,
rather than help it with its new
“boundary” system.
While each county that was
affected by EAB had been listed
individually prior to March 25,
because of the spread of EAB
throughout southern Ontario, the
area will now be lumped together,
meaning that infected slabs and
firewood will be able to travel freely
throughout the new amalgamated
area, furthering the spread in
Pullen’s opinion.
Pullen suggested that Huron
County take steps to stop this
amalgamation in order to stop the
further spread of EAB. Through
lumping the areas together, highly-
infected areas would now be treated
the same as Perth County, for
instance, which has one tree, near its
southern border, that has been found
to be infected with EAB. There
would be no monitored travel
involving infected slabs of wood or
other firewood throughout all of the
designated southern Ontario areas.
Theoretically, wood infected with
EAB can now be transported
throughout Perth County without
being controlled, simply because of
that one tree. The issue being thatwood from heavily-infected areaswill now be free to be transported
around areas with just a handful of
cases. In many situations, extreme
measures have been taken to stop the
spread, but under the new
boundaries (or lack thereof), EAB
could be legally transported to
uninfected areas of the county.
The newly-formed southern
Ontario group includes Huron
County, Perth County, Hamilton,
Toronto, Chatham-Kent, Durham,
York, Peel, Halton, Niagara,
Waterloo, Brant (including
Brantford), Elgin, Essex,
Haldimand, Lambton, Middlesex,
Norfolk, Oxford and Wellington.
Pullen said that this decision was
made with little or no consultation in
some cases with southern Ontario
regions affected by EAB and how
they felt it might affect further
spread of the menace. He said there
was some minor consultation on the
amalgamation that took place in
Gananoque.He says that while it may not behappening overnight, the spread of
EAB has been slowing, but these
new regulations would not help that
trend.
Pullen says that progress has been
made in finding fungus and native
wasps that will eliminate EAB and
that predators are learning how to
hunt EAB, where years ago just five
per cent of EAB were being
predated, that number has risen to
over 40 per cent.
Pullen said that local mills and
firewood lots, many of which are in
the northern part of Huron County,
have ethical standards when it comes
to EAB, but more often than not,
they have no control over what wood
is dropped in their lot.
Pullen presented several options to
council, all of which were approved
by council.
Pullen suggested that Huron
County staff begin to investigate a
local bylaw, lobby the CFIA and
several local politicians to have thenew regulations overturned as theypertain to Huron and Perth Counties
and leave all of the current signage
in place, despite the changes that
have occurred.
There were also suggestions made
that letters be sent to the federal
candidates, Huron-Bruce MPP Carol
Mitchell, the Ministry of Natural
Resources and several other
authorities on the subject.
The motion was passed
unanimously.
Central Huron’s Jim Ginn
said that when he heard the
news of the restructuring that he
felt it was an covert way to
make a change.
“I felt it was underhanded to
announce this on a Friday
afternoon on the day an election
had been called, knowing it
would receive no media
coverage,” he said. “This goes
beyond landowners losing some
money, this is a health and
safety issue. This is a bad insect.”Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh’sBen Van Diepenbeek also expressed
his displeasure with the CFIA,
saying that this hasn’t been the first
time Huron has suffered because of
the agency.
“The bureaucracy in that
organization is unbelievable,” he
said. “It’s impossible to get any
answers and to come down so
heavy-handed with little to no
consultation, I think they need their
knuckles rapped.”
Letter to the Editor
Homeowners condemn
vandalism at their home
THE EDITOR,
We have signs that say “Do Not
Trust Your Insurance Company or
Adjuster”. These signs are here for
a reason. If you would like to know
our reasons we would be glad to
share our opinions/experiences
with you.
Unfortunately, our signs, which
are on our property, have been
destroyed for someone’s
amusement. If you would like your
own sign we will gladly make you
one, but leave ours alone. It is our
property and does not belong to
you.
Also, please think about what
you are doing to our children, who
are terrified by being awakened by
you in the middle of the night.
Monica Ives.
By Shawn LoughlinThe CitizenEAB regulations put Huron County at risk