The road to clean air is paved with toxic footprints. Skipping along pesticide-laden farms to get a good photo, soaking in scenic beauty while breathing pulp mill exhaust, and drinking water contaminated by industrial waste, I wonder: Is ignorance bliss and knowledge disease? Or is ignorance bliss that can lead to disease.
At the Bioneers Conference, Andrew Weil spoke of the power of the mind, belief, and placebos. He underscored the impact of the unseen world on the seen world--and I wondered about those toxic footprints I've learned along the road to clean air.
Does thinking about toxins make us potentially sick?
Or is the knowledge of toxins lurking in our backyards and places where we travel a potential life-saver because we can make better decisions?
In the past week, my mind (and maybe body) was hit with the knowledge of three toxic footprints courtesy of industries that didn't tell all nearby residents and visitors like me what they were contaminating the water, air, and soil with.
If it weren't for the fact I read and talked to locals, I wouldn't be telling you about...
1. Driscoll Strawberry Fields
2. Hormone-interrupting pesticides placed throughout several California counties, including Sonoma, Napa, Contra Costa, Monterey, Santa Cruz, and Los Angeles to deal with the Light Brown Apple Moth (LBAM).
3. Fidalgo Bay in Anacortes. This is where you get the Washington State Ferries to San Juan Islands.
To get details on each toxic footprint, read on. If you feel ignorance is bliss, please stop reading now.
1. Driscoll Strawberry Fields in Red Bluff had recently been sprayed with methyl bromide.
Nearby residents Amy and Jeff Harley evacuated for two days because despite living yards from the buffer zone, Driscoll relocated them (one week before we met) for 48 hours--though 36 hours "should be safe to return home."
As far as people, animals, and birds far outside of the buffer zone go, or unknowing tourists driving or walking by, well, too bad. Is what I surmised from the story.
(Undisclosed toxic use of pesticides is something I'm sensitive to after what happened to me in Monterey Nov. 2007. Even if neighbors know what's about to happen, how about billboards for us tourists.)
So I'd just driven from Eugene, Oregon, through Mt. Shasta, and was having a drink at a local bar near Redding, where I spoke to this local couple--Amy and Jeff--who'd moved from Long Beach, California for a better environment in which to raise their kids.
They'd soon learn that their new neighbor Driscoll sprays dangerous methyl bromide on its strawberry fields every three years; Driscoll's strawberry field being adjacent to Amy & Jeff's backyard.
Amy and Jeff, and their 3 year old, and newborn baby, recently evacuated to avoid potential negative health impacts.
"We were told by Driscoll that if we're feeling the effects of methyl bromide, call us right away," Amy said.
"You have the phone numbers for a rep at Driscoll?" I asked.
"Yes, and a rep from the county and California Agriculture, too." she said.
"Driscoll grows nursery grade plants and they have to desecrate everything in the soil before they plant in order for a 2nd county to accept their plants. The 2nd county must know Driscoll killed everything, including all microbes; they need virgin soil. They know methyl bromide is a deadly poison."
Methyl bromide rolled off Amy's tongue like, "Do you want chicken for dinner?"
She continued, "Driscoll put us up for 48 hours, though we're supposed to be okay after 36 hours. But when I came back after 48 hours, I smelled something in the air, but methyl bromide isn't supposed to smell so I don't know what I smelled. But they put a tear gas agent in the methyl bromide so we will know if we've been exposed, in which case we must leave area immediately and call Driscoll, the county, and Calif ag.
The first time we learned about methyl bromide, we did our homework, they let us know when they were spraying, and technically despite we're out of the buffer zone, as good neighbors Driscoll paid for our leave during the 36 hour window, after which they told us it "should be okay" to go back home."
Should be. What if it's not?
It turned out, Driscoll was being a "good neighbor" as long as people lived within their buffer zone or close to it, and knew it.
One of Driscoll's neighbors didn't live within the buffer zone or even right outside of it like Amy and Jeff.
This last time when Driscoll put down methyl bromide--which can cause serious damage to the nervous system and in some applications cause birth defects--according to Jeff and Amy, their neighbor went outside for her mail and immediately felt like her eyes were on fire, as if she'd been pepper sprayed.
She called her friends, for she didn't have the cell numbers to Driscoll, California Ag, and the County.
She was supposed to be safe, outside of the buffer zone.
And it happened to her after the so-called 36 hour "safety" time zone.
Reportedly, upon hearing this news authorities said,
"We're surprised."
Jeff said he'd been told that the wind shifted late in that 36 hour evacuation period, bringing his neighbor the unexpected surprise.
"But it's not a carcinogen," Amy reassured. "It kills everything."
"You mean it kills everything before anyone can get cancer?"
"It can cause neurological issues."
"How's your baby?"
"Our babies weren't conceived in the methyl bromide zone."
I asked this young couple if when they moved to farmland their realtor warned them about pesticide risks.
"It should have been disclosed," Amy said, "but, no, methyl bromide wasn't disclosed, and technically we're outside of the buffer zone by about 30%. The realtor just wanted her commission." (I didn't understand this percentage but the whole conversation was rather shocking, especially how this young couple seemed to take poison in the backyard as almost normal.)
"Our fear is they may replace methyl bromide with something worse," Amy said. "Also, I wish instead of doing 5 acres at a time, they'd relocate us at once and do the 30 acres but they don't want to spray at one time because winds can shift; weather changes. But it's a hassle for us to pack up two kids."
I'm grateful to Amy and Jeff for sharing their personal experience. I'll note they had no anger or disappointment about this; nothing I could detect in their voice. They took the whole thing rather matter of fact.
I didn't ask their age but guessed them to be in their late 20s or early 30s and maybe they haven't had health issues due to environmental pollution. I have. So, I'm particularly sensitive to hearing this sort of thing.
This sort of information would influence me against moving next to a farm using poisonous pesticides. I now know to ask, and so do you.
If nothing else, I'd like full-disclosure of environmental pollutants to be required for realtors selling properties, and hotels and chambers of commerce catering to people traveling or moving near potential risky areas.
I didn't know to ask about pesticides when in Nov. 2007 I went to Santa Cruz and Monterey at the "suggestion" of the American Lung Association. I'd read their State of the Air Report rating Monterey and Santa Cruz Counties as having some of California's cleanest air. But they didn't mention aerial pesticide spraying with a known carcinogen and hormone disruptor like Checkmate.
2. Monterey and Santa Cruz had a carcinogenic pesticide spray called Checkmate showered on the community just about the time I arrived in November 2007. Because I (and many) had a negative heath reaction at that time, this week I wondered what's going on with pesticides & the light brown apple moth.
Soon I'll drive south, and I wondered what areas I might avoid to ensure no unnecessary headaches.
So I learned they now have twist ties of pesticides lurking in trees in select locations. I've heard some people do get headaches.
The idea was to prevent mating of the light brown apple moth that experts from UC Davis said is not an invasive pest, and is not ready to devastate California agriculture.
Yet the California Agriculture department and Gov. Schwarzenegger didn't tell people like me traveling to an, otherwise, clean air location, that we'd get a free dose of poison, Checkmate, showered over heads back in Nov. 2007.
As mentioned, I got sick along with others and the visual of Holocaust victims who didn't ask to be gassed came to mind. Did I mention 700 dead or dying birds washed to shore?
Today, I called 8 different individuals at California Agriculture Dept. and County Agricultural Commissioners that represent areas using the twist tie phermone interruptor meant to derail the light brown apple moth from mating.
And, so far, not one person could tell me exactly where these twist ties have been placed, but placed they have been.
One woman at dept. said she thought the twist ties or "traps" gave off phermones into the air about 100 feet but she wasn't sure. Her theory was based on fact the twist ties are placed every 200 feet for good coverage. She also said she thinks they move traps every 6 weeks but she wasn't sure, could be 90 days.
She also said, "The phermone will disperse into the air but it's not droplets or anything."
Oh, I see.
On a different yet somewhat related note:
Marin County officials recently violated their own pesticide laws, showering thousands of gallons of toxic pesticides in parks, recreation areas, and the Marin Civic Center where I attended the Bioneers Conference featuring health guru Andrew Weil.
The law states if a pesticide is classified by the U.S. EPA as a carcinogen or possible carcinogen, it can't be sprayed. Yet Marin officials allowed the toxic spray on 90 occasions in past 10 years. I believe a further investigation is in order.Would you want herbicides in your next breath?
I found Vegan Reader, a wonderful blog, that documents how to spot herbicide use in Marin and San Francisco counties here. And here learn how to get involved in stopping lbam pesticides.
You can also write comments about lbam eradication program to: Jim Rains, Staff Environmental Scientist, California Department of Food and Agriculture, 1220 N Street, Sacramento, CA 95814, fax (916) 654-1018, or email [email protected]. And your representatives. Though after my attempts today to get answers from the California Agriculture Dept. I can't help but wonder what if anything they do with your information and concerns.
Others to contact:
California Agriculture Commissioners
Monterey County - (707) 253-4357
Santa Clara County - (408) 918-4600
Santa Cruz County - (831) 763-8080
Hotline to report a pest or problem with pesticide (800) 491-1899
3. I was thirsty waiting for The Washington State Ferry in Anacortes Washington enroute to clean air Orcas Island in the San Juan Island archipelago.
I asked the gal behind the snack bar counter if their tap water was safe to drink (locals frequently know but not always) to which she replied,
"Yes, our water is clean."
I paid 25 cents for a cup and drank what I later learned was most likely contaminated water currently in process of being cleaned.
According to a Dept. of Ecology for State of Washington study, the area's groundwater shows sporadic low level contamination from petroleum products, arsenic, bis(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate, sulfide, ammonia, and 4-methylphenol.
The Fidalgo Bay has been home to lumber mills, pulp mills, oil field equipment, and boat manufacturing, not to mention a popular port.
In conclusion, when I heard Andrew Weil speak about the power of mind, the power of belief, and the power of suggestion, I wondered:
Is ignorance bliss or disease?
The power of the mind is powerful but I think toxins are, too.
So as I search for clean air and tumble over toxic hot spots, I plan to continue to report my findings, unless someone can convince me ignorance is bliss.
I wouldn't mind living in a fantasy lala land, if I could only believe it existed. (Is that all it takes?)
What do you think? Is ignorance bliss, or potential disease?
Would you rather know or not know about what's in the air you breathe and the water you drink?
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