A councillor in Alma is trying to stop the J.D. Irving forest company from launching an aerial spraying program in that southeastern New Brunswick village.

The company wants to spray tree plantations in the region between Alma and Riverside-Albert between Aug. 11 and Sept. 30.

Coun. Fred Hall said the forestry company has told him the spraying program will be safe but he is still worried about the affect of the herbicide, known as glyphosate, on residents in his area.

"It certainly will have an impact on the health of people in the area if this is allowed to go through," Hall said.

Hall said he's launching a campaign to have the herbicide banned from the region.

Mark Bolden, a Department of Environment official, said the provincial government has set up guidelines on where and when glyphosate can be used.

Bolden said the environment department trusts the approval given by Health Canada to pesticides and stressed that glyphosate has been used for years.

Tests easy to pass

Inka Milewski, a science advisor with the Conservation Council of New Brunswick, said the federal government's tests for herbicides are too easy to pass.

"The requirements they have for testing and approving these pesticides is really not that rigorous," Milewski said.

She said the companies often add ingredients to glyphosate, which are not tested by Health Canada.

Milewski said other tests have shown that combining glyphosate with extra ingredients can have long-term effects on the immune system.

She said they can hurt fetuses and small children. The environmental group's science advisor also said glyphosate is the most widely used defoliant in the province.