(Vaporooter specs, see http://sandrafinley.ca/?p=4192)
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Letter to:
(1) Federal Ministers
– Health, Tony Clement
– Agriculture, Chuck Strahl
– Fisheries and Oceans, Loyola Hearn
– Environment, Rona Ambrose
(2) University of Saskatchewan, Board of Governors; Deans Ernie Barber and Lynne Pearson
(3) Others
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EMAILS TO-DATE: (This email is one in a series, an attempt to get Federal Govt Departments and the University to work together to address poisons we are putting into water supplies.)
(1) a request for integrated problem-solving, “Must connect the dots; integrated approach”, Mon April 03/2006.
(1a) “Health, sharing of information among citizens”, Tues Apr 04/2006.
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USE A SPECIFIC CASE TO ILLUSTRATE
Dear All,
This documentation about the chemical mixture “vapo-rooter” (to dissolve tree roots in sewer lines) is a good case to illustrate what we are doing.
It tells you what is written on the labels. The attachment explains the toxicity.
We compartmentalize and make this into an “environmental” issue. We compartmentalize and say “oh those bad agricultural chemicals”.
Email #1a demonstrates that what we do to other creatures in the environment, we are doing to ourselves. This demonstrates that city folk are equally involved.
This is definitely a health issue. But effective problem-solving will occur ONLY if the parties (Agriculture, Environment, Health, DFO, Universities) come together.
We are fighting the use of vapo-rooter here in Saskatoon. If the PMRA (Pest Management Regulatory Agency (Dept Health)) and DFO (Dept Fisheries) were doing their jobs – cities would not be putting the chemicals into the water supply. One of the reasons Saskatoon started using vapo-rooter is because Calgary (upstream city) uses it. Pity the guys who are at the end of the River.
It reminds me that DFO is part of the problem. The abandonment of regulation. There will be more and more going into the rivers (water supply) because the Liberals slashed DFO enforcement budgets. “We will sign up a force of “stewards” to replace enforcement of regulations.” I will send you the full documentation of that later.
The effort to prevent this one chemical mixture, vapo-rooter, from entering the water supply in this one City, will be two years old this summer. We are no closer now, than two years ago. That is “stewardship”.
Sandra
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In his presentation (last week of March), the Government official presented terrific figures on the increase in the number of “watershed stewards” in the province. And the commitment of the Government to “source water protection”. Sounds great.
BUT it doesn’t address the fact that “source water” is actually all water.
What Calgary runs through its “waste” water plant is actually one of the “sources” of my drinking water in Saskatoon.
I use the example from City Saskatoon: it contracts out work that involves putting the chemical mixture “vapo-rooter” into the sewer lines (goes to the “waste” water treatment plant). One of the ingredients is a KNOWN carcinogen. The other is bad news, too. Here (I don’t know about elsewhere) they don’t actually have the ability to test the water to see if one of the 2 ingredients is in the water. After they’ve put it in, ha!) Saskatoon says, in defence of the use, that Calgary also uses vapo-rooter.
… “Source water protection” ???
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March 16, 2006: This was sent to the City and to the Environmental Advisory Committee.
THE LETTER:
City Council needs to issue a directive: tree roots will be augered out of sewer lines. Vapo-rooter is not to be used. (The City contracts out the vapo-rooter work.)
The question of putting Vapo-rooter into the water supply was brought to Council’s attention in summer 2004. It is not yet resolved. It comes up at Environmental Advisory Committee Meeting March 23, 2006 and looks as though it will be dropped.
1. YOU DO NOT OBSERVE RIVERS DYING. ONE DAY THEY ARE DEAD.
17 rivers in P.E.I are dead, not capable of supporting aquatic life.
(documentary on CTV-TV programme W5, 3 plus years ago). The chemicals applied to the potato fields run off into the rivers. P.E.I didn’t plan that their rivers should be dead. The chemicals are invisible.
2. AUGERING DOES THE JOB WELL, AND IS COST-EFFECTIVE, IF EXTERNAL COSTS ARE FACTORED IN (AS THEY SHOULD BE)
it is insanity to add to the chemical load of the South Saskatchewan River when a perfectly safe alternative to the chemical concoction Vapo-rooter exists. Tree roots are augered out manually. There is nothing wrong with augering.
3. REPORT ON TOXICITY OF VAPO-ROOTER
No one of us requires a toxicologist’s report to know how toxic vapo-rooter is. If the chemical mixture is potent enough to dissolve tree roots, you KNOW it should not be added to the chemical load of a River that already flows through miles and miles of agricultural land in southern Alberta and Saskatchewan.
THAT SAID, if you require a Report on the toxicity of Vapo-rooter – it seems that the process is held up for lack of one – you will find a detailed Report ATTACHED. Thanks to Paule Hjertaas.
There is no justification for inaction.
4. TREE ROOTS ARE A TEMPORARY PROBLEM
Tree roots in sewer lines are a temporary problem. When old infrastructure is replaced they are no longer a problem. Augering is fine.
5. YOU ARE “GETTING AWAY WITH” THE USE OF VAPO-ROOTER; REGULATIONS ARE NOT ENFORCED
When the problem with vapo-rooter was brought to Council NO ONE was able to produce a protocol for the removal of vapo-rooter from the water supply by the Water Treatment Plant. As far as I can determine, it is because there isn’t one – i.e. we don’t know how to remove the chemicals from the water once they are in the water. If you have read the instructions for the use of vapo-rooter, it is specifically stated that IT HAS TO BE CONTAINED because it is very toxic. Putting it down a sewer line is in breach of PMRA regulations.
See the attached Report. From the product label:
“SPECIAL NOTICE: SANAFOAM ® VAPOROOTER ® should not be used to treat roots in storm sewers or other drains where waste water will not be treated or controlled.”
– I feel I have to respond to this, although given what is known about the chemicals in Vapo-rooter (metam and dichlobenil) I know before I ever get to this point, that the use of Vapo-rooter is in no way warranted.
The Saskatoon Water Treatment Plant reported testing for the presence of the chemicals. They didn’t find vapo-rooter. From the attached Report, it is noted that in the case of the metam chemical portion of Vapo-rooter, you have to test for the presence of MITC, not metam. ” … water testing for metam would be useless unless done very fast after use and in the proper place as the chemical hydrolises rapidly ( 3.17 days). It would be much more productive to test for MITC which has an average ½ life of 20 days. As a matter of fact, MITC is the active pesticide form. Or test for 2,6-dichlorobenzonitrile, dichlobenil which are residual a lot longer (average 130 days for dichlobenil in water and at least 5-10 months in sediments. In Ireland, dichlobenil was found in groundwater at least 3 years after the pollution stopped. Dichlobenil, in particular, has had severe aquatic ecosystems effects. …”.
(INSERT, UPDATE: The Environmental Advisory Committee was told that the cost for testing for the presence of dichlobenil was $3,000. And there isn’t an available test for metam (MITC).)
– It has taken almost 2 years to get ? where? Would SEAC (Saskatoon Environmental Advisory Committee) please expedite their recommendations?
Sincerely,
Sandra Finley
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Vaprooter: dichlobenil and metam
Dichlobenil also sold under Casoron, Sanofoam LD 50 oral: 2710 mg/kg and 1350 mg/kg dermal. It is a nitrile Metam is also sold in Sask under the names: Metam and Vapam. It is a dithiocarbamate with 97 mg/kg LD50 for ingestion and 800 for dermal exposure.
(Pease ask if you would like the analysis of vapo-rooter, sent as an attachment (9 pages). /Sandra)