Residents Will Voice Herbicide Concerns
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Date:
Mon, 9 Dec 2002 08:32:20 -0500
From:
Stephen Tvedten <steve@getipm.com>
Organization: Get Set Inc. (www.getipm.com)
To: Paul Helliker <phelliker@cdpr.ca.gov>
Director, State of California, Department of Pesticide
Regulation
cc: Christine Whitman whitman.christine@epa.gov
December 8, 2002 - Santa Cruz Sentinel - Residents will voice herbicide concerns
By JEANENE HARLICK - Sentinel staff writer
Local activists on Tuesday plan to protest what they call a lack of "backbone" by county leaders in banning herbicide use along local state highways.
Supervisors are set to accept a staff report at their weekly meeting on the fruits of their effort to curb herbicide spraying by the state Department of Transportation. In April, supervisors asked Caltrans to either stop spraying along state highways like Highways 1 and 17 that run through the county or speed up its promise to reduce spraying by 80 percent by 2012.
The board also asked Caltrans to immediately stop using more harmful "category II" pesticides and to set up a hotline that tells residents where sprayings occur.
But to date only the hotline has been implemented. Caltrans says it can't eliminate or significantly reduce spraying because alternative weed control methods - such as mowing and organic herbicides - are too expensive.
The department also can't stop using "Reward," the category II pesticide it uses locally, because it is the only thing that keeps ground cover under control, district director Gregg Albright said in a letter to supervisors.
But local environmentalists say those arguments don't hold water and that a simple hotline is not enough. They point to the stand taken in 1997 by Humboldt County supervisors, who forbid Caltrans from spraying within county borders. While the department is not subject to local ordinances, it gave into the county's wishes after massive public protests that included residents lying down in front of spraying machines.
The city of Santa Cruz banned pesticide use last year. In response, Caltrans nearly eliminated herbicide spraying within city limits and set up a pilot program to test weed-control methods such as solid mats, liquid soil sealers and organic mulches. There are currently two test sites.
"The fact the supervisors are starting to cave into (Caltrans) is totally inappropriate," said David Blume, a local activist leading the herbicide protest. "They should be protecting the citizens of the county instead of a state department budget."
Supervisor Mardi Wormhoudt said while the board is concerned, it's done about all it can do.
"I would like to see herbicides and pesticides minimized as much as possible and as quickly as possible, but we can't control Caltrans," she said. "All we can do is ask. ... In the meantime, the county has at least been successful in getting notification of where spraying will occur. It's a step in the right direction."
Herbicide opponents say Caltrans uses chemicals that cause cancer and birth defects. Runoff from herbicides kills toads, salamanders and other water life in the creeks flowing into the Monterey Bay, they say.
"When you spray this stuff, more than 99 percent of it goes into the environment, not onto the target plant," Blume said. "It can drift for miles before it settles on somebody's home, car or lungs."
Blume and others will present a petition Tuesday signed by more than 2,000 county residents opposing roadside spraying.
A Caltrans spokesman said the department is doing what it can to meet its long-term 80 percent reduction goal. The department already has decreased pesticide use by 50 percent since 1992, said Caltrans' Colin Jones.
"We're a real minor part of the overall spraying in the county. Our amount is minuscule compared to other users," he said.
In 2000, Caltrans sprayed 1,706 pounds of herbicide along county highways, compared to 1,620,596 pounds of pesticides used throughout the county as a whole, mainly by farmers.
The department will be able to expand use of alternative weed-control methods if the city pilot project is successful, Colins added.
Local activists also plan to protest the county Public Works Department's spray policy for county roads Tuesday. Spraying recently increased after a forced hiatus caused by equipment problems.
A status report on county spraying will be presented to the board Tuesday. In it, director Thomas Bolich said stopping herbicide use is cost-prohibitive. Public Works uses a combination of herbicides and mowing to control vegetation on 430 miles of county roads. It also uses both methods to control flooding along the Pajaro River and SalispuedesCreek.
Bolich estimates it would cost the county an additional $794,000 annually to eliminate herbicides on roads, and $253,000 to stop use along water ways.
"It's just so labor intensive it's beyond what our budget could adapt to," he said.
County residents can find out where pesticide spraying is occurring by calling the new hotline at 477-3937. The hotline gives alerts for both county and state roads.
Contact Jeanene Harlick at jharlick@santa-cruz.com.
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You can find this story online at:
http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/archive/2002/December/08/local/stories/03local.htm
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