A Halifax woman says a herbicide spraying program by CN should be banned or at least come with more public alerts.

“They are not notifying the general public,” said Peggy Gillis, who lives on Olivet Street in the west end of the city.

“I live 100 feet from the railway tracks and I have multiple chemical sensitivities. Even if I didn’t, I would not want this stuff coming in through my windows. It will leave a residue that will blow around from the tracks, probably for the rest of the summer.

“I alerted a daycare centre in my area this morning. Their outdoor playground is 50 feet from the railway tracks. They simply said thank you very much for telling us. We do other things with the kids and we won’t let them out on the playground during this six-day time frame.”

Alexandre Boule, public affairs adviser with CN, said in an email interview that a core value of the company is safety and that CN is obligated under the Railway Safety Act to ensure that vegetation on or immediately adjacent to the railway roadbed is controlled.

“The rules require federal railways to ensure the track is free of vegetation that could create fire hazards, affect the track integrity or obstruct visibility of operations and inspections. Separate regulations also require removal of vegetation to ensure every grade crossing meets sightline requirements.”

He said CN will use herbicides Overdrive, VP 480 and Esplanade in its annual vegetation management spray program, which will be conducted by Asplundh Canada. Both VP 480 and Esplanade contain the controversial active ingredient glyphosate. Overdrive contains dicamba, an active ingredient that is described as being similar to the herbicide 2, 4-D.

Bayer, the company that now produces glyphosate, was ordered in May by a California jury to pay more than $2 billion to a couple who say they were diagnosed with cancer after using the company’s glyphosate-based weedkiller Roundup. Earlier this month, two farmers filed a proposed class-action lawsuit in Halifax against Bayer on the use of Roundup, claiming they were diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma after using the herbicide.

Still, Dr. Robert Strang, Nova Scotia’s chief public health officer, responded to glyphosate concerns in September 2016 by saying “there is no evidence that glyphosate creates a risk to human health if used properly.”

Boule said all herbicides used in Canada, including those chosen by CN, are approved by the Pest Management Regulatory Agency of Health Canada.

“These products are specifically chosen to treat the railway property to ensure safe inspections and operations for our employees, the public and the communities we operate through,” he said.

The vegetation control section of CN’s website states that spraying schedules are constantly updated but currently have applications scheduled for Halifax Regional Municipality from July 30 to Aug. 4, Cumberland and Colchester counties, including the towns of Truro and Amherst on July 29, and East Hants and the town of Stewiacke on July 30.

“CN entered into contact with each one of them,” Boule said.

But Gillis said she contacted Mayor Mike Savage and two HRM councillors who did not seem to be aware of the pending spray or who was responsible for spreading the word about it within the municipality. She said her communications with CN indicate most of the track area in HRM will be sprayed using a truck with a “shrouded nozzle” that points downward but has a 16-foot spray span.

“There are thousands of people living along the railway tracks in HRM,” Gillis said. “I just want people who are vulnerable to be able to protect themselves. I am concerned about anything that’s vulnerable along the tracks, people’s backyards, people’s household pets, daycare centres and pools.”

Gillis said she realizes railway tracks must be cleared to prevent derailments, “but I think that they could go at it a little bit differently.”

Herbicide spraying is permitted only after an application to the provincial Environment Department. Rachel Boomer, a department spokeswoman said three companies, including Asplundh Canada, have active multi-year approvals that have not expired, and only Nova Scotia Power has been approved as of yet this year.

Patti Lewis, a NSP spokeswoman, said the company is already working in the White Rock area of Kings County and that a combination of methods are used to prevent trees from growing too close to power lines. Removing trees, trimming branches and other high-growing vegetation and applying herbicides to shorter trees and stumps is key to avoiding power outages, she said.

Lewis said the herbicide of choice for NSP is Aspect, which does not contain glyphosate, but the company sometimes does spray glyphosate sparingly. Prior to any herbicide treatment, NSP provides project maps for the Environment Department to approve.

“All approvals require a buffer from watercourses and from private water supplies,” she said. “Nova Scotia Power publicly advertises for at least 20 days prior to any work beginning and posts street-level notification at least seven days prior to any herbicide application.”

Department approval comes with regulatons about wind speeds that are safe to spray in, distances from watercourses, buffer zones from buildings and notification in a newspaper outlining the spray program at least 20 days before spraying commences.

“I don’t think that’s enough,” Gillis said.