The Arundo is growing back.  The chemical treadmill continues.  Herbicide retreatment in the Ventura River and Matilija Cyn watershed will begin again July 25th – Oct 28th, 2011.  (Three retreatments back to back will take place during that time.)

The County will start up again April 23rd, 2012 – Sept 2012, (again 3 retreatments back to back).

The County has already applied Aquamaster (glyphosate) with surfactant and added blue-green coloring in our watershed 6 times over the past 3 years.  The County has reported using 3,105 gallons of Aquamaster in the watershed so far to treat the arundo.

Even on the Monsanto’s own Material Safety Data Sheet for Aquamaster, it states: “Keep out of drains, sewers, ditches and water ways.”  The County obtained an ‘incidental take permit”, meaning that it’s ok if they kill red legged frogs.

In June 2011, some important information has come out in the report: 

Roundup and birth defects: Is the public being kept in the dark?

Excerpts from the report summary:

“Concerns about the best-selling herbicide Roundup® are running at an all-time high. Scientific research published in 2010 showed that Roundup and the chemical on which it is based, glyphosate, cause birth defects in frog and chicken embryos at dilutions much lower than those used in agricultural and garden spraying…

“The public, in contrast, has been kept in the dark by industry and regulators about the ability of glyphosate and Roundup to cause malformations…”

We can let Supervisor Bennett and the Ventura County Watershed Protection District know that we, as a community, do not support the spraying of toxic herbicides into our watershed.  Let’s protect our water, wildlife and our children!
 
Patty Pagaling
Ojai, CA
www.pesticidefreeojaivalley.org

Tags: Easy, Going Green, It's not