Millvale - Islanders can expect to continue drinking polluted groundwater long into the future said the Green Party of PEI. Appointees to the new Commission on Nitrates in Groundwater and the terms of reference for the committee are very clear indicators that government intends to continue supporting industrial potato production and the massive quantities of chemical pesticides and fertilizers this industry depends on.

"Committee members are tied very closely to either government or the potato industry," said Green Party leader Sharon Labchuk. "Retired federal government scientist, Dr. John MacLeod, will set the tone for proposed solutions and retired potato grower Stewart Affleck will support anything that doesn't threaten the potato industry. The office of Chief Medical Officer has proven to be a patsy for government and the potato and pesticide industries. Dr. Lamont Sweet never provided Islanders with information about the public health risks of the potato pesticides and nitrates we're all exposed to and we have no reason to believe his new replacement, as a committee member, will do any better. The absence of anyone on this committee with expertise in environment or organic agriculture is telling."

Labchuk points to Dr. John MacLeod's involvement in research that seeks only to lessen damage caused by industrial agriculture as evidence that Premier Ghiz will continue to support the potato industry and not enact long term sustainable solutions. She is concerned that the committee is mandated to seek solutions that only reduce nitrate pollution, not eliminate it, and that no consideration is given to known groundwater polluting pesticides widely used by the potato industry.

Read the complete article at:
http://greenparty.pe.ca/node/153