ene hee Mineman eeoennt

4

NEWS photo Nell Lucente

MEMBERS OF an information pene! at West Vancouver Secondary Schoo! are dwarfed by a giant
projection of an Asian gypsy meih larvae munching on a teaf. Gypsy moths pose a serious threat to
Lower Mainiand forests and tumt.er shipping operations.

Moth meeting raises concerns

$5M spraying program aims
at wiping out gypsy moths

THE FIRST in a series of public information meetings on
the planned aerial and ground spraying for Asian gypsy
moths on the North Shore and elsewhere in the Lower
Mainland was held Wednesday night at West Vancouver

Senior Secondary School.

The meetings have been sched-
uled by the B.C. Plant Protection
Advisory Council, which includes
specialists from various federal
and provincial agencies, to answer
public concerns about the propos-
ed $5-million eradication pro-
gram.

The Asian gypsy moths, which
pose a serious threat to local
forests and local lumber shipping
operations, arrived in the Lower
Mainland in May on freighters
from Siberia.

The ships loaded grain at Van-
couver and North Shore terminals.
The meeting's panef discussed:

@ gypsy moth biology;

@ the moth’s impact on areas
within North America;

@ survey results from moth trap-
pings in Greater Vancouver;

@ the moth eradication proposal
for 1992;

® information on the insecticide
planned for use in the spraying
program.

Researcher Dr. Bryan Fraser
told the audience the proposed
eradication program is ‘‘the first
of its kind in North America in
terms of dealing with the Asian
gypsy moth.”

Panel members told the au-
dience that an unchecked gypsy
moth population could spell en-
vironmental disaster for the Lower
Mainland area.

Gypsy moths can eat over 400
types of plants and trees; they
have a patticular fondness for oak

By A.P. McCredie
Contributing Writer

and some species of conifers.

To the Asian gypsy moth, the
Lower Mainland represents a
plentiful buffet.

The 17,400-hectare area desig-
nated for the spraying is bounded
to the scuth by King Edward
Avenue in Vancouver, to the w
by Point Grey, to the east by
Burnaby and to the north by the
North Shore (up to an elevation
of approximately 900 metres, or
3,000 feet).

Audience members raised con-
cerns about the side effects of the
spraying program.

But Agriculture Canada
pesticides officer Michelle Ed-
wards said the agent Bacillus thur-
ingiensis (Bt) is a naturally occurr-

‘ing bacteria found in soil and

areas where there are populations
of caterpillars.

“It is not harmful to humans,
birds, pets, fish or other insects,
except caterpillars,’? Edwards
said.

In response to a question from
a North Shore mother concerned
about her children with allergies,
Edwards said that even though Bt
has been approved by Agriculture
Canada, Environment Canada and
Health and Welfare Canada,
“‘persons who are immune-com-
promised and others having respi-
ratory conditions may wish to

reduce their exposure to the pro-
duct during the spray period.

“To deal with this, close your
windows the evening before the
Operation and stay indoors until
the product has had time to dry.””

Owen Croy, of Agriculture
Canada’s Asian Gypsy Moth Pro-
ject, said, ‘‘The droplets that are
being sprayed by aircraft are very
small. Most will reach the ground
in a few seconds and by the time
an hour is up there will be no
trace of the agent in the air."’

Insecticide that gets on win-
dows, cars or other items can be
removed with soap and water be-
fore it hardens, which usually
takes several days.

Bt breaks down in the environ-
ment in between three and seven
days; several applications will be
required, therefore, to ensure that
all gypsy moth caterpillars come
in contact with the insecticide.

Information about the schedule
for spraying, which could begin in
mid-April, will be released
through local media and pam-
phlets delivered to homes.

Spraying will take place between
the hours of 5 a.m. and 7 a.m.

Other scheduled gypsy moth in-

formation meetings:
@ Friday, Jan. 31, 8 p.m. and
Saturday, Feb. 1, 2 p.m. at the
Lynn Canyon Ecology Centre,
3663 Park Rd. in Lynn Canyon
Park. Call 987-5922,

An Agriculture Canada repre-

sentative will be on hand to pro-
vide information and answer
questions at the Ecology Cen-
tre,
@ Monday, Feb. 10, 7 p.m. at the
Lucas Continuing Education Cen-
tre, 2132 Hamilton Ave., North
Vancouver.

For more information about the
gypsy moth or the proposed
eradication program call 666-
MOTH.

Friday, January

pe Accused

21, 1992 ~ North Shore News - 3

relives

| Halloween night
| fatal accident”

Trial of 19-year-old NV man

THE DRIVER of a car in

which a 1{9-year-old North

Vancouver woman died November 1990, was told to ‘‘mat
it’? moments before the speeding vehicle careered out of

contro! and flipped over.

A court decision in the trial of
19-year-old Dan Sedlacek of
North Vancouver is expected next
month.

Sedlacek is charged with dan-
gerous driving, impaired driving
and having a blood-alcohol level
over .08.

Jana Atkinson, who was killed
in the accident, was one of five
passengers travelling in a Dodge
Omni driven by Sediacek on Nov.
1, 1990. The group had been
drinking and partying on Hallow-
een,

The fatal accident occurred in
the 2100-block of Kirkstone Road
at approximately 4 a.m.

The court heard that Sedlacek
had decided cartier that evening to
leave his own car at home so he
would not drink and drive.

But later that evening he ac-
cepted the keys to the death car.

Atkinson and three others were
seated in the rear of the car. They
were not wearing seatbelts.

The car’s owner gave evidence
that, for the most part, the fateful
ride was not out of the ordinary.

The speeding started on
Kirkstone. A passenger told
Sedlacek to ‘“‘mat it’’ (speed up)
and he did.

As the vehicle approached the
crest of a hill, an oncoming vehi-
cle came into view. Meanwhile,
the car containing the teens had
drifted over the road centre line.

The driver swerved to correct
his direction and then swerved
again to avoid collision with a
parked pickup truck.

North Vancouver RCMP Cpl.
Eric Brewer, who testified at the
trial as a skid expert, gave evi-
dence showing that the car was
travelling at least 109 km/h in a
50 km/h zone. Brewer said that
no brakes were applied as the
vehicle spun out of control and
crashed into a pole.

According to defence lawyer
Peter Ritchie, Sedlacek attempted
to apply the vehicle’s brakes, but
inadvertently stepped on the ac-
celerator instead.

By Brewer’s estimation, if
brakes had been applied to the
vehicle just after it began to veer
off the road, the car would have
slid straight down the street.

Instead, the car left the road
and came to a rest on its roof.

Atkinson’s head was crushed as
the Omni’s occupants tumbled.
She was at the bottom of a heap

By Michael Becker
News Reporter

of people when the car ended up-
side down.

Sedlacek admitted to consuming
six beers and having some “‘sips’’
of tequila and rye over the course
of the evening prior to the acci-
dent.

RCMP breath sample evidence
presented at the trial showed
Sedlacek had a reading of 150
milligrams of alcohol per 100
millilitres of blood at 5:11 a.m.
By 5:30 a.m. the reading indicated
130 milligrams.

But Ritchie argued that
Sedlacek was not substantially out
of control.

He pointed out that one witness
thought he looked all right to
drive. He said that shortly after
the accident, investigating police
officers found Sedlacek to be
speaking concisely and walking
with steady balance.

He had a moderate odor of
alcohot on his breath.

‘“*He appeared to be a paragon
of polteness and cooperation,’’
Ritchie said.

But Crown counsel Marina
Morgan said that another police
officer noted symptoms that in-
cluded bloodshot eyes, slurred
speech and slow response.

Meanwhile Ritchie questioned
mechanical evidence given at the
trial indicating that the death car's
rack and pinion steering broke as
a result of the crash.

Sedlacek told police that he
thought the steering broke when
the vehicle veered.

Ritchie asked Judge D.E. Moss
to look ‘‘at the totality” of
Sedlacek’s driving. ‘‘In the agony
of the moment"’ he said Sedlacek
did not take the correct action.

Ritchie also questioned whether
the driver was responsible for his
passengers’ not wearing seatbelts.

“Young Danny had no inten-
tion of hurting anyone,’’ he said.

But Morgan argued that dan-
gerous driving caused the death of
Atkinson. She said Sedlacek was
reckless from the time he accepted
the keys from the car’s owner.

Morgan said Sedlacek created
danger by virtue of how he was
driving: ‘tHe ‘hit the mat’ because
one of his drunk passengers told
him to.’’

index

B® Automotive

BB Editorial Page

@ Home & Garden

@ Trevor Lautens

@ Mailbox

® Paul St. Pierre

@ What's Going On

Saturday & Sunday, rain. High 9°C, Low 3°C.

Second Class Registration Number 3885