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If you travel highway 28 between Peterborough and Bancroft you might notice that the vegetation behind any guard rail has been poisoned for some reason. Doesn't matter if there was a pond, lake or stream ( Eels Creek) below the dead stuff.
Anybody know why they would be doing this? It is all a good distance from the pavement and impossible to drive on. The vegetation between the guard rail sections has been mowed in places but is still alive...
I noticed the same thing between Renfrew and Bancroft (don't remember exactly which stretch of road) and was wondering the same.
On 60 between Renfrew and douglas there is a short stretch where hydro poisoned trees beneath the powerlines. A bit strange - usually they cut them nowdays.
It's not only on 28. Hwy 62 north has it done as well. This isn't the first year for this. They did it last year as well.
It must be done by Carillion (spelling?) who has the contract for the Hwy maintenance but MTO must have approved it. Can't be good for wildlife in general and especially around water.
They've been doing that in the Almaguin Highlands area for the last several years as well. I've ATV'd through/by a lot of these spots (hydro lines) and the stink from whatever chemical they use lasts for weeks/months
Multiple reasons... giant hogweed and the yellow wild parsnip... they're spraying to try and kill that stuff off because it's faster and cheaper than manually removing it. They spray under hydro lines to keep down trees/foliage... because it's cheaper than taking a brush hog over it.
Keeping the brush down also helps to keep the wildlife from wandering onto the roads.
Don't worry... all the herbicides (poisons) they use are labelled as being safe. Just don't drink the water, or eat the berries, or touch it...
I can't imagine,in Liberal Ontario,any contractor using anything that could be a bio-environmental hazard. Why not call the contractor and ask what they're using? I'm sure they're required to tell us. What government would want to be caught allowing the use of a toxic substance?
Signs have to be posted with name of product being used.
Never saw one sign, ever. You could smell it before you got to a treated area though.Quote:
Originally Posted by yellow dog
Yes it could be Giant Hogweed, Invasive Phragmites or Wild Parsnip. Eastern Ontario has been hit hard with Wild Parsnip for the last 10 years. I have seen the County in this neck of the woods spraying the ditches for Phragmites with a single boom sprayer since spring. Funny thing is they don't put any signage out but they are supposed to by law. Even organic products require signage just to make the public aware of whats being applied.
Golf courses and farmers are still allowed to use Round-up, but I have to dig my weeds up.:mad:
If it were to control hogweed or parsnip, then they would have done ALL the shoulders, not just the sections immediately behind the guard rails. The rest of the shoulder has one mower width cut back to expose any small critters that are waiting to dart out in traffic....Would not effect deer or moose in any way.
Last year hydro cut and sprayed the area under the lines out front. Got the skidder stuck on the sandy hill and it had just started to grow back in, preventing any more erosion. Now it's bare sand again. Highway dept dumps sand on the top of the washout and a month later I pick it up from the bottom to spread on my driveway....
They may have used 2-4D. I know it stinks after you spray it.
Farmers around here spray the ditches with gramoxone (Unsure on spelling) has a stink to it... but doesn't linger...
I don't care WHAT, I wonder WHY? My tax money ($100/week) at work.....
I agree with this 100% it is a real big problem ,,,I believe thy just use roundup ....DutchQuote:
Originally Posted by yellow dog
I know what Roundup smells like, but this stuff is like nothing I've ever smelled before.Quote:
Originally Posted by dutchhunter
The best weed killer I've ever used on my interlock patio is vinegar and water mixed 3:1. It smells like a french fry truck for a day,but,it sure works. Have you ever wondered why Round-Up and PathClear smells like vinegar? ;)
It's either glyphosate (RoundUp) or Garlon 4. City of Kawartha Lakes is doing the same. They contract the spraying out to a lawn company. You'll see it sprayed wherever there is a crash-barrier picket post section, as these areas cannot be cut with a sickle bar mower/tractor. Eliminates labour intensive manual weed whacking by staff on the ground. They are also spraying poison ivy or swallowort infestations on city property if an adjacent landowner complains.
I seen thy were talking about the wild carrot or parsnip on chch news today ,thy are spraying around the hwy for it as well ,,,it is very bad if you get the oils from this plant on your skin as it will blister and is very painfull ,,to pets as well as people ,,
Round up, like 2-4D is a growth hormone. Basically the plant grows so fast that the cell walls burst and the plant dies.
Gramoxone does not kill the root, only the foliage so weeks later the leaves will be back. Funny story about gramoxone, 30 years ago I worked as part of a lawn maintenance crew. Showed up at one of our clients homes to see dead footprints across the beautifully manicured lawn. One of the guys had sprayed the patio the previous week and instead of starting at the far end and walking backwards he started at the near end, walking over the spray material. the chemical that was on his boots was enough to burn the lawn when he walked back to the truck. Took a few weeks until everything was green again.
That wild parsnip (same stuff that is grown commercially) with yellow umbell flower, as well as our native cow parsnip (white umbell flower) can give you a contact dermatitus dose that makes poison ivy rash seem like a picnic. UV light exposure is the key (has photoreactive chemicals in the sap). I knew a guy who paid the price dearly! Two hours of weed-whacking with a gas-powered Stihl brush saw at his cottage, while wearing a pair of $3 Bargain Village shorts (with no gitch), and no shirt. He pretty much vaporized the parsnip stems with the whacker. Then he spent the rest of the day outside in the sun, tubing and consuming delicious beverages that come in a brown bottle. He was hospitalized two days later. The sap vapour had even migrated up onto his rosebud, stemmer and his ball-sac! Head-to-toe blistered.We cook up parsnips for supper whenever he comes for a visit!
My son about eight years ago did the same thing by accident working for a farmer. He still has the scars on parts of his body from the wild parsnip juice and body reaction to it. Queen Anne's Lace(wild carrot) should not be confused with Wild Parsnip.
I was up to pattern the new to me 16 and saw the same thing along the hydro line (the "road" wanders back and forth and passes underneath the lines). I didn't notice right away but then I clued in that's what must be going on.
I ran into a Carlillion employee in a hardware store yesterday and asked him what they were spraying on the guardrail areas. He gave me a name and number to call.
Just got off the phone. They told me they use "Factor 540" which he said was basically Roundup. He said it is approved by MTO and they use it to maintain sightlines along the guardrails. Without it, it would take thousands of hours with guys using weed whackers.
"Factor 540 is a higher concentrated formulation of glyphosate for non selective weed control in most crop systems." The MNR has approved its use for aerial spraying as well. They'll be doing it in the Sudbury Forest this month.Quote:
Originally Posted by justinmch
Too bad they can't just use it where the line of sight would be compromised by weeds...