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Herbicide, Round 6!
Since I wrote the original blog about the El Dorado Nature Center and the use of the herbicide Roundup, I've found out some new information: The herbicide used at the Nature Center does not contain surfactant, the inert "detergent" additive that is known to cause environmental devastation.
Date: 10/14/2005 4:13:57 AM ( 19 y ) ... viewed 1291 times Dear All:
This week I spoke with the "grounds coordinator" of the Nature Center, Donnie Haigh, who seems to know a lot more of what is going on than Ken Herbage, the superintendent of maintenance for the entire extensive Long Beach Parks system whom I spoke with last week.
Haigh told me that the Nature Center makes up their own herbicide solution--1 part glyphosate (the active ingredient) to 100 parts water; they don't have the inert surfactant, or "soap", in it that commercial Roundup has. The surfactant, from what I've been reading, is the more toxic ingredient in Roundup and is the one sited in killing amphibians. The surfactants are more toxic than the active ingredient glyphosate, a salt compound, which supposedly breaks down in the soil via soil bacteria. They also spray it on the two man-made "lakes" where the waterfowl nest, using what's called "Rodeo", to get rid of aquatic "weeds"; Haigh tells me this solution is the same as what they use for the ground--active ingredient glyphosate + water, without the surfactant.
Well, MAYBE this is not as bad as I thought but I'm not convinced the glyphosate is NONTOXIC. I told Haigh that this solution sounds "less toxic" than the commercial Roundup but "less toxic" is still not equivalent to "non-toxic". I'm going to speak next with the Nature Center biologist who is convinced that the herbicide solution they use is "safe"; he sprays it on the park's fire road himself, primarily to get rid of Bermuda grass, an invasive weed which threatens to "strangle" native plants.
I was also told that the herbicide solution is not used weekly, as was implied by Herbage, but primarily in the growing season of Spring and Summer and not in the Fall and Winter; Haigh could not give me an exact number of times it was used but thought about 3-4 times on the ground per year. The spraying of the lakes is contracted out and she didn't know how often the water was sprayed.
The problem seems to be a matter of basic economics--there are 102 Nature Center acres, with only one full-time maintenance employee (a woman named "Terri" who is the one I came across spraying the solution on a Friday when the Center is open to the public; she got reprimanded, according to Haigh, as personel are only supposed to spray it on Mondays when the park is closed--after all, they don't want the public to get solution on them because of "drift" (!) according to Haigh) to get rid of weeds and some volunteers who do some of the trail maintenance. According to Haigh and Terri, to whom I also spoke, it would take too many employees and man-hours to weed the Center by hand and the Park and Rec budget won't support this, so the herbicide is used because it's cheaper and quicker than pulling the weeds by hand.
The problem with the information about the amphibians is that the herbicide used was commercial Roundup, and the article even states that it's the surfactant that is causing the amphibian deaths. I've found it difficult to find articles that talk about just the active ingredient, as most studies are done with commercial Roundup with surfactants:
"...Studying how Roundup(r) affected frogs after metamorphosis, Relyea found that the recommended application of Roundup(r) Weed and Grass Killer, a formulation marketed to homeowners and gardeners, killed up to 86 percent of terrestrial frogs after only one day.
'The most striking result from the experiments was that a chemical designed to kill plants killed 98 percent of all tadpoles within three weeks and 79 percent of all frogs within one day,' Relyea wrote.
Previous studies have determined that it is Roundup(r)'s surfactant (polyethoxylated tallowamine, or POEA, an 'inert' ingredient added to make the herbicide penetrate plant leaves) and not the active herbicide (glyphosate) that is lethal to amphibians.
This research was funded by the National Science Foundation, Pitt's McKinley Fund, and the Pennsylvania Academy of Science. " http://www.allergy-immunology.com/wb/default.asp?action=9&boardid=2&r...
Is it possible that the active ingredient glyphosate + water is OK to use, as long as there are no surfactants in the solution?!? I'm not a chemist or biologist, so I'm really not sure!
I'll keep plugging away to find out more information!
Thanks for your support!
Liora Leah
El Dorado Nature Center
http://www.longbeach.gov/park/facilities/parks/el_dorado_nature_center.asp
Related Blogs:
Broken Hearted: http://curezone.com/blogs/m.asp?f=309&i=180
I am heart-broken to find that my Beloved Nature Center is using Roundup, a potent herbicide, to kill weeds. Can Mother Earth forgive us? Can we forgive ourselves?
Herbicide: Drink Up! http://curezone.com/blogs/m.asp?f=309&i=181
The Superintendent of Maintenance at the Nature Center told me that the herbicide they use to kill weeds, Monsanto's Roundup, is "safe enough to drink"!
Nature Center Illusion Shattered, or was that Delusion? http://curezone.com/blogs/m.asp?f=309&i=182
Well, looky here! http://curezone.com/blogs/m.asp?f=309&i=183
I've been writing about what action I'm going to take to try and get Roundup banned from use at the Nature Center. Think I just found myself some Nature Center allies!
This writing from my other blog, Spirit Speaks, addresses my thoughts about what positive action I might take to remedy the situation at the Nature Center, where I go to re-connect with Great Mother Earth. I asked my Guides and Great Mother for some input: They told me to come from a place of Love & Integrity: http://curezone.com/blogs/m.asp?f=356&i=54
Volunteers Needed! http://curezone.com/blogs/m.asp?f=309&i=190 I sent an e-mail out to my physician-friend regarding the use of herbicide at the El Dorado Nature Center. I have posted her response below. She believes that the Center's use of herbicide, without the detergent additive that causes so much environmental devastation, is a step in the right direction, but more community volunteers are needed.
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