Farmer Alex Docherty intends to fight pesticide charges

A former chair of the P.E.I. Potato Board has been charged with four pesticide infractions something he says he intends to fight in court.

Alex Docherty, 54, of Elmwood, P.E.I., has been charged with four counts under P.E.I.'s Pesticide Control Act: use of a pesticide without holding an applicator certificate; allowing a pesticide to be discharged in a manner not permitted by the manufacturer's label; failure to keep records of air temperature, wind speed and direction; and failure to keep records of trade name and PCP Act number of the pesticide applied.

Skye ViewFarms Ltd. Docherty's farming business faces identical charges in connection with the incident.

The alleged infractions took place over a six-week period last summer.

Docherty saidhe and other farmers in the Clyde River watershedturned over their pesticide records to provincial investigators following a fish kill in the Clyde River last July, that followed heavy rains.

• 'A disappointing day': Fish kill cleanup underway in Clyde River

He said conservation officers came to his home a few days before Christmas to deliver a court summons.

The charges do not make reference to the fish kill.

'They're looking for someone to blame'

Docherty said he intends to plead not guilty to all charges.

"My name is being dragged through the mud and it tarnishes the whole industry," said Docherty."The industry doesn't deserve this."

"They're looking for someone to blame," he said.

The charges were laid in Charlottetown provincial court in December.

The case is slated for provincial court February 6.

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