LBAM Aerial Spraying Over Cities Stopped!
Thursday 19 Jun 2008 | LBAM Spray Bay Area
Dear Valued Readers,
If your shoulders are feeling strangely lighter on this historic evening in the state of California, it is because an imminent sentence of disease and death via aerial spraying has just been lifted from millions of us.
Take a seat and read this news!
I am not ashamed to say that my husband and I fell to our knees and thanked our Creator when the press release was finally issued. In this long, weary and psychologically devastating battle, we have achieved one small victory for the rights of humankind today. The State has heard the message that they will not be allowed to aerially spray pesticides over urban areas. I want to take a moment to shout my joy and celebrate with you over this momentous turning point in our struggle.
Hooray! Hooray! Hooray! Our efforts are making a difference. Our voices are not soundless. All of us are seeing that we are not powerless to protect our families from harm! We are not fighting without hope.
But, we are still fighting.
Now is not the moment to rest.
There is so much work for us to do.
The Work Ahead
My first questions after reading the news are these:
1) What constitutes an urban area and what constitutes agricultural/undeveloped land? Are the rural outskirts of a town classified as undeveloped? How many people have to live in a region for it to be classified as developed? This is going to become the most important question now.
2) Rep. Sam Farr went into and came out of his meetings with the Ag people calling the light brown apple moth a ‘threat’. We have got to work on getting this moth reclassified. We know it isn’t a threat. How can we make reclassification happen?
3) Twist ties, permethrin sludge on telephone poles and other ground based methods are extremely toxic and dangerous to us, wildlife, water, air, soil. These are unacceptable poisons. We refuse to be exposed to any of them. How will we now begin the fight against all of the CDFA’s ‘alternative’ toxic measures?
The long fight here is going to be over the classification of urban vs. undeveloped. Now that CDFA is saying they will only spray Ag. Lands, that looks to me like everyone in Sonoma County may be sprayed because of the monstrous alcohol industry here. Will Sonoma, rural Marin, rural Santa Cruz and rural Monterey now be aerially sprayed just as their urban neighbors are let off the hook?
We must not allow this to happen! No aerial spraying, no twist ties, no pesticides, chemicals or poisons are acceptable to us. The fight is far from over, and we need to recognize our new-found power and harness it to continue to fight these misguided and criminally dangerous agencies which continue to place zero importance on human and environmental health. We must keep fighting.
Today is a banner day for California. We have shown the strength of our arm, as an ancient prayer says. We must now use this strength to begin the real change California is desperately crying out for: the steady march away from the imperiling and deadly practices of conventional agriculture toward a just and healthy future for our people.
Thursday 19 Jun 2008 | admin | LBAM Spray Bay Area |
We are happy to hear that the CDFA has decided to stop aerial spraying of biochemicals over urban areas. Unfortunately, the CDFA will now aerial spray undeveloped areas. Apparently their commitment to aerial spraying is still ongoing, so the fight is not over. Also the CDFA has not wavered on their commitment to releasing poisons during the ground part of their treatment plan, so the fight is far from over!
http://www.LBAMspray.com
http://lbamspray.com/00_Audios_Videos/CDFA20080619.mp3
audio link to press conference, mentions spraying bt as well
This is the best news I have had in a while. We can all rest a little easier now. Thanks to all the people who helped make this happen and to you, Mim for the information and great support you have given! Bless everyone for their efforts and may we continue to “clear the air”.
time for a really nice rest, especially after all that crying and whoooping and hopping up and down, and looking off into the distance, speechless, thinking of all the work it took.
i hope this will help us in other states.
meanwhile, i’m still with you, planning to help keep this stuff away from everyone else, and the wildlife, and the organic crops.
Hooray we are all making a difference. That is why we need to keep together and just say “no more spray” and remove this moth from the list. Remember it is not an emergency and there is no crop damage. WARNING many areas of Santa Cruz county and Monterey county and other counties have forested areas, hilly areas, parks, that could have massive spray. Just say “NO MORE SPRAY”! Look at the wording! Read between the line. Hotchilipepper
The research, websites, community outreach, lawsuits, and lobbying done by thousands of ordinary citizens from Pacific Grove to Sonoma created the pressure that made this possible. This is an extrodinary example how people can come together, get involved, and make a difference. A significant threat to ourselves and our environment has been eliminated.
I do believe this success can be a major inspiration for the fight against other chemical trespasses and aerial spray programs by the state and private industry.
John Russo
StopTheSpray.ORG
Hi, To anyone that believes everything now that is being said and think the spray has stopped and the sterile moths are the only thing they’ll use - and you don’t think CDFA or USDA would state mistruths; then please read “Would I le To You? A.G. Kawamura and LBAM Spray” article on this site! Then after reading, please explain why you’d believe him now. We’ve got to keep fighting -you’ll all doing great! hotchilipepper
We do have to continue. It would be very dangerous indeed to take these people, who have made false statements constantly, at their word. Part of fighting this must be to constantly remind everyone of particle drift. You could spray over the Santa Cruz Mountains calling it a rural area and still drift over a number of urban communities. I hope that this effort will become large enough that it involves the country, not just California. There is so much involved here - our trade practices, the power of the chemical industry, etc..
In the meantime let us at least be thankful for this news and take a brief moment to appreciate it.
Another thing we can do is support the Child and Chemical Act and write to its sponsors. This may serve as a foot in the door if it passes.
what about genetically engineered insects? i am worried about that invention.
Like everyone else, I am glad that the LBAM aerial spray has stopped in urban areas. However, I have mixed reactions with this news.
USDA/CDFA continues to proceed with the LBAM Program, especially the ground treatment measures, despite the fact that the chemicals they will be using are not safe, are not effective, and not needed.
Science has not prevailed today. Kawamura continues to tell everyone how LBAM must be eradicated - yet there is no evidence to support that LBAM is a threat.
So what does this mean?
Paul Schramski and Tom Kelly (Pesticide Watch) stated it best: “The Devil Is In The Details”. Please read their public statement that I posted on Stop The Spray:
http://forum.stopthespray.org/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=1494
The public’s outcry has raised the public’s awareness of the agricultural industry’s addiction to chemicals and the pollution to us and the planet. This awareness has also pulled back the curtain of the USDA/CDFA and their deceptive tactics of protecting agriculture’s lobbying interests above and beyond everything else. Such deceptive tactics do not include sound science.
The USDA/CDFA’s model of spray first and ask questions later raises serious health and environmental issues that still remain unresolved.
A new paradigm shift needs to change the agricultural industry if we are to save ourselves and our only home, Earth.
I am greatly relieved the state has retreated from its insane
program to spray us with untested, secret pesticides.
Since we have heard from agency staff the tests evaluating
the pesticide on lungs is complete, but not released yet -
why am I suspicious that the results didn’t give the pesticide
a passing grade - as the Governor wanted?
HOPE will be requesting the report results tomorrow.
To stay up to date you can visit http://www.1hope.org/checkmate
Another great post! It is cause to celebrate for a moment, but not to rest on our laurels. This is progress, but as Paul Schramski says, “the devil is in the details”. We need to read between the lines of this.
Nonetheless, we’re making an impact, so let’s keep thinking positive about the paradigm shift in agriculture and be the change we want to see in the world!
Hello To All My Readers!
How thrilled I am to read all of your wise and good comments.
Here is a comment from Tom Kelly that bears reprinting:
“From the start this has been a people’s movement. We see increasing amounts of asthma and respiratory disease and other illnesses that are caused or exacerbated by the chemicals in the environment. Simple common sense tells you that exposure to more chemicals equals more disease. We’ve had enough. We insist on greater disclosure, a right to know what we are being exposed to, and that government take a precautionary approach should similar situations occur in the future. A pesticide reform movement has been awakened in California and will continue to grow,” added Kelly.
Thanks to reader BPM for linking to the article.
David -
I am looking forward to see what HOPE can get in terms of those lab results, I have been wondering abut this, too.
Solstice -
You are so right. We need to find out what the deal is with GE insects. GE anything gives me the creeps.
Donna -
Thank you so much for linking to that audio clip. Per usual, Kawamura was not giving very straight answers to straight questions. What I got regarding the concern we all have of urban vs. undeveloped, from listening to his responses, is that they don’t intend to aerially spray over residential areas. It sounded to me, from his comments, that this means both town and country neighborhoods.
However, I don’t feel this has been satisfactorily defined.
He kept mentioning places without road access. Doesn’t pretty much every place in the state have road access? Even state parks are crisscrossed with rangers’ roads.
Still, I do not feel confident about this.
And, of extreme concern is the announcement to spray ag lands. Again, this means everyone living in and around Sonoma, Napa, and the growing regions of Marin, Santa Cruz, Monterey, etc. would be exposed to the spray via drift, if not directly over their house.
Now, this is nothing new. People living near alcohol growers or conventional farms are already being exposed to aerial spray of deadly pesticides. But, here is our chance, with the awareness that has come of our struggle, to begin shouting that aerial spraying of anything, in any area of California, is an outrageous action.
And then there are all the ground treatments, too.
So, like all of you, I’m celebrating right now but I am also ready to keep working and fighting.
Thanks for all of your wonderful comments!
Mim
Air circulates the planet - DDT in the melting glaciers effecting penguins; China’s polluted air reaching the S.F. Bay Area effecting our air quality; pesticides in our National Forests contaminating wildlife and visitors; mother’s milk in Intuit population in the Arctic; all water on our planet contaminated with pesticides and chemicals; etc.
Pesticides drift around the planet on dust particles and through the air. The continued use of aerial pesticide spraying with the LBAM Program when it is not needed, not safe, and not necessary remains a concern to all forms of life, the quality of our food and air, and the contamination of our soil.
I want to personally thank everyone who involved themselves with stopping the LBAM aerial spray over urban populations.
I do recognize there is much more that needs to be done and revealed by USDA/CDFA on the LBAM Program and also to stop the chemical addiction by the agricultural industry and other industries polluting us and our planet.
Our environment continues and will be the number one health issue for generations to come unless all of us make a concerted effort to be a part of a local, national, and global environmental movement.
But it is not over. Someone tipped me off to “ground spraying” trucks in New York. So I went trolling and found several things, including (1) the webpage of the group fighting the spraying. (2) a news article showing a photo of a spray truck.
http://www.nospray.org/ No Spray Coalition,
Fighting Against The Indiscriminant Spraying Of Toxic Pesticides Since 1999
NEW YORK CITY MUST STOP SPRAYING TOXIC PESTICIDES IMMEDIATELY!
The No Spray Coalition is appalled by Mayor Bloomberg’s decision to renew mass-spraying of dangerous pesticides in the Bronx, Queens and Staten Island. Furthermore, we condemn the New York City government’s advice to residents and visitors that they personally use insect repellants containing DEET on themselves and their children. DEET is especially dangerous for children and should NEVER be used; it is associated with numerous infant deaths.
The No Spray Coalition is also deeply troubled by NYC’s reckless spraying of Anvil 10 + 10 to kill mosquitoes. “After years of litigation to stop this reckless spraying of pesticides which has contributed to skyrocketing increases in cancer and asthma, and now the collapse of bee colonies in the New York area, I am outraged that the Bloomberg Administration is renewing its mindless criminal poisoning of the people and environment of our City,” said Howard Brandstein, coordinator of SOS-FOOD and a plaintiff in a federal lawsuit brought seven years ago by the No Spray Coalition and other organizations against Rudolph Giuliani and the New York City government.
That lawsuit ended in April 2007, when NYC signed a settlement agreement . . .
–> “Thousands of New Yorkers were severely sickened by the spraying in 1999 and 2000. A number of members of the No Spray Coalition, including several of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, died from pesticide-related illnesses.”
- - - - - -
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/bronx/2008/06/10/2008-06-10_west_nile_virus_fight_to_be_ramped_up_th-1.html
West Nile virus fight to be ramped up this summer
By John Gale
Tuesday, June 10th 2008, 4:00 AM
Burns for News
[photo of spray truck] Crews spray insecticide to kill West Nile-carrying mosquitoes. The Bronx is in the thick of West Nile breeding season. But take heart. City health officials say they’ve gotten a grip on the situation.
At the outset of the 10th mosquito season since the deadly virus first struck New York, the Health and Mental Hygiene Department is again taking measures to keep residents from being infected.
From citywide trapping and testing of mosquitoes to applying anti-breeding larvicides on standing bodies of water, the department has been hard at work.
“We’re focusing very hard on prevention,” said Dr. Edgar Butts, assistant commissioner of the department’s Bureau of Veterinary and Pest Control Services. “We use all of the tools available to prevent West Nile from becoming present.”
We are very grateful to everyone involved in this for their efforts. In 30 years of anti-pesticide activism, we’ve never seen such a gathering of strength and commitment, and this announcement at least gives us some encouragement to keep going.
We live in rural West Marin, where there are many organic farms. Marin’s Ag Commissioner not only writes permits for aerial and ground spraying of restricted pesticides (2,4-D, Transline, etc), but also is in charge of the organic certification program!
He is fully on board with any kind of spray program, and says it’s OK for organic farms to use ground spray and twist-ties for the LBAM. He’s the Decider on who is and isn’t organic, so everything’s ‘fine.’ The threat is that if growers don’t use these methods, they will be quarantined. The degradation of organic standards is just another bonus for Chemical Ag.
These guys are not going away. (It took 13 years for us to stop CalTrans spraying our roadsides out here, and they now want to start again.)
We have lots of open space out here with people who don’t think twice about chemicals - prime target for LBAM spray. The Bay Area watersheds for rural and urban dwellers alike are at risk, along with all the species living in them.
There are more moth traps appearing every week in our communities.
So, take a moment to breathe, give thanks for the amazing people we have with us, then get ready for the next round.
Happy Solstice to you and all our fellow “pests”,
Donna & Paul, Highway One, Marshall
Dear Donna & Paul,
Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a comment here, sharing your experience.
West Marin is a peerless, precious place. It is absolutely unacceptable that the Marin Ag. Commissioner is so unethical and uneducated about biodiversity and the essential protection of places like Marin.
We have been very upset about Marin’s organic farms since the organic farming group there published a letter offering to cover Marin with twist ties in order to avoid aerial spraying. We were so disappointed and thought Marin would never make a deal with the devil like that.
Upon further investigating, we quickly learned that the offer made by this group did NOT represent the feelings of many organic West Marin farmers, many of whom came to meetings and talked about the devastation this would cause to their safe food supply.
Having heard CDFA’s revised plan to start aerial spray over undeveloped lands, I am very worried about Elephant Mountain and Inverness Ridge in Marin, not to mention all of the precious wetlands which are the crucial habitat of our dwindling migratory bird populations.
Thank you so much for working for so many years to change this state’s unacceptable mindset about pesticides. I believe we are on the edge of big change here and that we can use the power we are discovering in our numbers to stop these toxic and uneducated practices.
Wishing you a happy solstice back, and hoping you’ll comment again here at Vegan Reader!
Mim
From a Management Perspective:
1. The CDFA Goal of Eradication is flawed and invalid (due to Moth not doing damage, being here 50 years, and eradication not therefore necessary and certainly not possible, based on Carey’s invasive pest analysis and confirmed by all independent entomologists and statisticians.
2. ALL Programs and Tools within the CDFA now in order to eradicate the Moth are now also flawed and invalid because in rational scientific management, one does not proceed with tools or programs that are intended to achieve a flawed or invalid goal.
Hello Glen,
Thank you for weighing in on this. I think your 2 points are extremely valid and worthy.
Keep on working. We can beat this.
Mim