Marion Moses, M.D., President of the Pesticide Education Center in San Francisco, reports:

"County employees have assured GAToS that the pesticides being used are "safe", are approved by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and are used strictly according to label directions. I find these arguments neither compelling nor reassuring. The issue is not whether current laws are being followed, but whether they are adequate to protect the public, wildlife and the environment. They are not.

"The scientific tests required to register pesticides are based on regulations passed over two decades ago. The many advances in molecular biology, genetics, [etc.] make the older tests inadequate predictors of potential human health risks by current standards.

"Current regulations require only one chemical to be tested at a time. This ignores synergistic or multiplicative effects from exposure to two or more chemicals.

"Current regulatory requirements do not consider exposures to vulnerable populations such as the embryo, developing fetus, and infants and children. Very low levels of exposure at critical periods of growth and development can have profound effects on the brain, reproductive, immune, and endocrine systems.

"Pesticides contaminate rivers, lakes, and streams from drift, run-off, leaching and rain; they are among the most frequently found contaminants in water supplies. Toxic chemicals are being sprayed next to the Lexington Reservoir along roads that are part of this watershed, posing a threat to humans dependent on this water supply.

"The question is not whether the level of contamination is considered ‘safe’ or ‘acceptable’ by county authorities who rely on pesticide laws that are inadequate to protect the public. The question is the right of ordinary citizens to be free from toxic trespass – to avoid unwilling and involuntary exposures to known toxic chemicals.

"I urge Santa Clara County to return to past safe practices and to work with GAToS for the adoption of County-wide progressive and healthy pest control practices."

Bill Green

GAToS (Group Against Toxic Spraying) surveyed dead vegetation. They estimated that the County had reduced spraying by 92% for 1999 compared to 1998. The Roads and Airports Department said the reduction was only 50%. They said that they sprayed 35.39 acres of roadside; we found only 4.48 acres. We are requesting more data from them, but tend to think they are being modest in order not to set a precedent for next year.

GAToS mailed out about 2300 Weed Abatement Notices to Lexington Basin Residents. There were 34 forms submitted from residents along county-maintained roads and 25 from roads maintained by other agencies. GAToS called most of the submitters and found they were generally satisfied with one notable exception — a Summit Road resident whose hedge was wiped out by the county spray truck. He had submitted his abatement form and marked his property with red-topped stakes. The county offered him one gallon plants to replace the hedge. The resident found the offer inadequate, and is currently suing the county.

On June 3, GAToS met with Supervisor Gage, Roads and Airports Director Michael Murdter, and Manager Alan Jones. Next fall, GAToS and Roads and Airports will experiment with Supressa, a non-toxic corn gluten product that acts as a pre-emergent control for annuals. We plan to meet periodically.

One last hopeful note: The Santa Clara County Medical Association (SCCVMA) has made an endorsement condemning the use of pesticides on county property. SCCVMA has invited GAToS to join a coalition to work on a no-pesticide ordinance for county agencies. We feel that an ordinance is the only way to get to our goal: No toxic spraying.

Bill Green

GAToS (Group Against Toxic Spraying) met with the Santa Clara County Department of Roads and Airports March 11. We had asked previously for a 95% reduction in toxics from the 1998 usage. Roads and Airports outlined its spring 1999 plan for reducing toxic spraying. Alan Jones, Branch Manager, Roads and Airports, said that while they could not commit to a 95% reduction, this program would approach that reduction amount. This program is based on a careful survey of the forty miles of county-maintained roads in the Lexington Basin:

• Spraying will be selective – only problem plants will be sprayed. Areas with acceptable vegetation (landscaping, low growing vines, etc) will not be sprayed.

• The amount of pesticide concentrate used will be reduced to the absolute minimum – on the order of one quart per acre.

• Mowing will be done in conjunction with the spraying to reduce the amount of pesticides needed. The county will be evaluating more effective mowing equipment.

• The team of two people operating the spray rig will receive special training and supervision with the goal of reducing spraying to an absolute minimum.

• All vegetation higher than eight feet above the road will be mechanically trimmed.

Your GAToS representatives at the meeting: Diane Mattson, Bill Brasier and Bill Green, welcomed the reductions, but emphasized that the GAToS long term goal was NO TOXIC SPRAYING. Both sides agreed to continue working on this.

We expressed our concern that residents of the county maintained roads receive advanced notification of spraying, and have the option of avoiding spraying by clearing and marking their road frontages.

Private residents can avoid spraying by submitting a "REQUEST TO PERFORM OWN WEED ABATEMENT" form, and by following the instructions on that form to mark their road frontages. We have mailed this form to six postal routes covering the Lexington and Lakeside areas.

If you want a copy of this form, call Roads and Airports West Maintenance yard at 252-642. Spraying is scheduled to start soon: late March or early April. Residents who submit a form and mark their properties will have until May 31 to clear their frontages.

MNN readers will recall that in the last issue I wrote about an upcoming December 1, 1998, meeting with GAToS, Supervisor Don Gage, Roads and Airports (R&A) Director Michael Murdter and staff.

That meeting was cordial. The net result was that R&A would research methods used by the seven California counties that do not do roadside spraying. The findings would hopefully reveal how Santa Clara County could likewise eliminate spraying through use of alternative methods of vegetation control.

A meeting date of December 12, 1998, was set with the same attendees to discuss the results of the R&A survey, and decide what sort of program for roadside clearing would be proposed to the mountain residents.

GAToS used the interim time between meetings to do its own research into alternatives to spraying. We talked to Caltrans in Ukiah, which is evaluating a corn gluten product that uses natural enzymes to prevent seeds in the soil from sprouting. It does not harm established plants.

We talked to Jim Smith, a mowing contractor for Santa Cruz County, who can mow roadside brush for 20% the cost R&A has reported for their mowing crew. We will be looking at other alternatives, such as low growing native grasses and bushes and innovative equipment. We have been faxing and e-mailing all of our research results to R&A for their consideration.

Yesterday, December 17, 1998, I was contacted by Maureen O'Malley-Moore of Supervisor Gage's office. She told me that R&A had insufficient data from the no-spray counties, and needed more time. I concurred, because the meeting would be pointless unless a proposal could be put on the table.

Our next meeting with the county is tentatively scheduled for the week of January 11, 1999.

GAToS (Group Against Toxic Spraying) represents the mountain area surrounding the Lexington Reservoir, located south of Los Gatos. The group sprang up in reaction to the Santa Clara County Department of Roads and Airports use of herbicides to clear roadside brush starting in 1997. There are approximately forty miles of rural roads in the affected area. GAToS opposes the use of toxic chemicals to clear roadside brush because they poison the drinking water and the environment.

More than sixty mountain residents, three county officials, and a number of anti-pesticide activists met October 28 at Lakeside School on Black Road. Supervisor Don Gage and Alan Jones of the Department of Roads and Airports stated their position that herbicidal spraying is safe, effective, and inexpensive.

Mountain residents were eloquent and deliberate as they examined each of these assertions in light of their own experiences. They recounted a nightmarish tale: the sudden, unannounced arrival of the spraying truck, followed by dead animals, missing wildlife, and dead, but still standing, brush. They were unnerved to realize the roadside streams that provide their drinking water had been sprayed. As one resident stated: "Nice try, but it just doesn’t work. The brush is still there. The fire hazard is greater, and visibility for drivers unimproved." Many agreed with this assessment.

Dr. Marion Moses of the Pesticide Education Center, personal physician to Cesar Chavez of the United Farm Workers, was equally eloquent. She said that although herbicides are legal, their safety is in serious doubt. She detailed how even low level exposure could cause serious harm to children the unborn. Dr. Moses compared low level pesticides exposure to smoking tobacco. After years of seeming health, the victim experiences the early onset of life-threatening disease.

The meeting then turned to examining why alternatives to spraying were not being used. Justin Ruben of the Pesticide Watch Education Fund said that nine California counties, many in rural and mountainous regions, had discontinued the use of herbicides.

Supervisor Gage said that spraying costs $160 per acre, while mowing costs $1700 per acre. Alan Jones of Roads and Airports said that the special roadside mower was constantly in the repair shop.

The mountain people were dubious. An engineering manager said that if you couldn’t spray and you had a limited budget, you would learn how to become more efficient. An auto repair shop owner said regarding the stricken mower: "You must have bought the wrong machine, I have seen many miles of similar roads elsewhere in the state that are machine mowed. Their equipment must be more reliable." Another resident politely asked why the county used no contractors. He said, "I have observed both the county crews and the contractor crews; they don’t work in the same way. I think the contractors might be more efficient."

The county officials promised to study the problems and alternatives, and meet again with the mountain residents. When pressed, they allowed that three representatives of GAToS could participate in this process. A time frame of about three weeks was offered.

GAToS will continue to press for safer alternatives to herbicide spraying.