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Government again proposing to spray Btk pesticides on citizens.

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Benjamin S. Schroeter                                         Memorandum
TO:             All Media DATE:   March 31, 2000
RE:             The 2000 Gypsy Moth Eradication project - Ballard / Magnolia
SUBJ:           Corporate America, Regulatory Agencies and The Public Health - a prescription for death and disease.

                The Seattle Post Intelligencer, and Andrew Schneider in particular, have recently taken the time in a series of investigative articles on vermiculite and now asbestos, to uncover some of the dangers of toxic exposures that we, the American public, would never dream could occur.  Exposure by the media of the fallacy of our perception of presumptive public health security is both needed and appreciated.

                It is quite clear to all that the agencies that are supposed to protect the public and their health have been failing us since their creation.  It is my opinion that the best way to get results is to publicize the death of many people while showing direct agency failures.  This was well done by Mr. Schneider in the Vermiculite articles and there was immediate corrective reaction from (ir)responsible governmental agencies.

                The recent exposure of asbestos (and other hazardous substance) disposal in lawn and garden products has developed a media link to the issue of serious health oversights which are ready to occur in Seattle; with the Washington State Department of Agriculture's 2000 Gypsy Moth Eradication Project.  The Asbestos story and the Ballard Gypsy Moth Spraying story are one and the same.

                It is the story about how corporate America has been "recycling" hazardous waste in consumer products and (EPA approved, USDA recommended) PESTICIDES (which includes household and garden formulas and products such as ROUNDUP).  The issue is not about Ballard but about exposing the American public to dangerous chemicals and toxic waste.  It is about the relationship between corporate America, regulatory agencies and death.  Be afraid.  Be very afraid.

                The facts of the Ballard spraying are standard for defining the corporate-governmental relationship.  The story is about the complete disregard of common sense by placing profit over health. It's about government spin doctors who do the bidding of the corporations.  It is about "what we don't know will kill us".  

                The following facts about the Ballard project are not in dispute:

 1.      WSDA wants to spray 750 square acres of residential and commercial area of The City of Seattle.
2.      The chosen product is a Btk formulation; FORAY 48B from Abbott Laboratories / Valent BioSciences.
3.            FORAY 48B is 97.9% inert ingredients.  (see label)
By admission of WSDA, USDA and the manufacturer; FORAY 48B has multiple unidentified inert ingredients which are found on EPA "List 4" and one inert ingredient that is found on EPA "List 3".
5.      WSDA, USDA and the manufacturer are refusing to identify the inert ingredients.

6.      Some of the chemicals on EPA "List 3" which have been found in previous FORAY 48B formulations include:
     SODIUM HYDROXIDE
     SULFURIC ACID
     PHOSPHORIC ACID
     METHYL PARABEN
     POTASSIUM PHOSPHATE
     See Bacillus Thuringiesis by Carrie Swadener Journal of Pesticide Reform Fall 1994, Vol. 14, No.3. @ http://eap.mcgill.ca/MagRack/JPR/JPR_22.htm 

7.  The Material Safety Data Sheet
(MSDS) for FORAY 48B clearly states that the following HEALTH CONSIDERATIONS have NOT been DETERMINED:
     Medical Conditions Aggravated by Exposure - NOT DETERMINED
     Oral Toxicity - NOT DETERMINED
     Dermal Toxicity - NOT DETERMINED
     Inhalation Toxicity - NOT DETERMINED
     Corrosiveness - NOT DETERMINED (see ingredients in above #6)
     Dermal Irritation - NOT DETERMINED
     Ocular Irritation - NOT DETERMINED
     Dermal Sensitization - NOT DETERMINED
     Target Organs - Possibly skin, eyes and respiratory tract 
    Special Target Organ Effects - NOT DETERMINED
     Carcinogenicity Information - NOT DETERMINED

                There are two ways of interpreting the Health information from the MSDS.  We can continue with our historical disregard for common sense and listen to corporate and agency spin doctors, (the WSDA is implying that FORAY 48B is safe because no data exists to say otherwise) or we can pay attention to the facts we do know and opt to err on the side of caution.  Just the other day the P-I had an article about Agent Orange (a USDA approved pesticide) being tied to diabetes.  This took 30 years of science to figure out.  A governmental apology in the year 2030 for the spraying of Ballard residents in 2000 is no consolation.

                The public health is at risk and we can not trust our government to watch over us.  The known facts of the Ballard Gypsy Moth project make clear the dangerous relationship between the regulatory agencies and corporate America.  Unfortunately, the law allows these types of projects to occur (which is a whole other story). Investigative journalism, and a journalist, who is willing to dig where he/she is not welcome, is the only way this insanity will be exposed. Libby Montana is small potatoes to the issue that faces Seattle. There are plenty of dead bodies already, lots of dead bodies.  We just don't need more in Seattle.

                Ben Schroeter  
                206-826-6216

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