Steve Tvedten of Get Set, Inc.'s email to Lyndon Hawkins of the California Department of Pesticide Regulation .

Questions have been asked of the California Department of Pesticide Control since Fontana Unified School District declined to consider a pesticide free IPM program because of the Department of Agriculture's opinion about only utilizing registered pesticides to eliminate pests.  The California Department of Pesticide Regulation has remained silent and not responded to these issues:

Subject: Lyndon, Why are You Still Poisoning the California Farmworkers?
Date:  Thu, 01 Jul 1999 11:53:02 -0400
From:  Rosalind Tvedten <stvedten@earthlink.net>
Organization: Get Set Inc. (www.getipm.com)
To:  Lyndon Hawkins <hawkins@empm.cdpr.ca.gov>

 (California ) Farmworkers Face Poisoning Risks  By Martha Mendoza -  AP Business Writer  Thursday, June 24, 1999; 2:24 a.m. EDT

WATSONVILLE, Calif. (AP) -- Farmworker Isabel Rendon collapsed, dizzy and throwing up, in a strawberry field last year after ("registered") pesticides drifted from a  neighboring apple orchard. But she also said she lives almost constantly with rashes on her hands and  blisters on her arms, caused by constant exposure to toxic chemicals.  ("Registered" Poisons.}  Ms. Rendon is apparently not alone. About 665 workers are poisoned each year in California's lush fields and orchards, according to a study released Wednesday by environmental and labor advocates. ``I'm proud to be a farmworker, but I do not believe I need to be poisoned at work in order to make a living,'' Ms. Rendon said Wednesday.

The study found that most workers receive little, if any, medical treatment when they are overexposed.  Rendon and ten coworkers poisoned last year were taken by a field supervisor to a local clinic where they were given water and Tylenol. Most doctors said they would recommend rest, monitoring and prescription antidotes. ``Medical treatment is very limited. I see birth impairments, neurological problems, rashes, blisters, cancer, and the life expectancy for farmworkers in this country is 49,'' said Dr. Roberto Letimendi, who works at a health clinic in Watsonville. ``I believe this is in direct relation to the chronic exposure by these farmworkers to pesticides.''  ("Registered" Poisons.)

Letimendi said the new study should be used to leverage funding for additional studies about the medical problems caused by pesticide (poison) exposure among California's 600,000 farmworkers.  (You should study my safe alternatives.)

The study analyzed 3,991 cases of occupational poisonings by agricultural pesticides between 1991 and 1996. Grapes, cotton and broccoli were the crops accounting for the most poisoning cases, according to the study.

Penalties for those poisonings were rare, the study found. During 1996 and 1997, more than 85 percent of the documented pesticide safety violations statewide carried no fines at all.  "Enforcement of California pesticide safety laws is clearly lacking,'' said Anne Katten of the California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation.  ``Issuing warnings instead of fines for pesticide regulations is like the California Highway Patrol handing out 'please drive safely' letters to reckless  drivers.''

California Department of Pesticide Regulation spokeswoman Veda Federighi said the study and its sponsors -- the United Farm Workers, Pesticide Action Network, Californians for Pesticide Reform and the California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation -- overstated the problem. ``I don't think the situation is as dire as they want to paint it,'' she said. ``But we certainly are working to improve.''  (Ms Federighi could have stopped with her first three words - in my opinion.)  Bob Krauter, a spokesman for the California Farm Bureau Federation, said the study is unfair because it focuses on selective data between 1991 and 1996. ``Farmers have a great regard for the health and safety of their workers,'' he said. Krauter added that California has the toughest pesticide  regulations in the country.

But Kate Hallward of United Farm Workers said those regulations don't mean much if most violators aren't penalized. ``Clearly not enough is being done,'' she said.  The study's sponsors are recommending that state officials rapidly phase out the use of the most toxic pesticides and promote healthy and sustainable alternatives. In addition, they are calling for a ban on aerial spraying of pesticides and expanded buffer zones around recently treated areas.
© Copyright 1999 The Associated Press.

Lyndon, when will it be legal (in your opinion) to wash your can in California and kill insects safely using safe alternatives?
Respectfully,  Steve