Schools must tell parents before spraying.

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Subject:    New law on pesticides - Schools must tell parents before spraying.
 Date:       Thu, 17 May 2001 07:25:26 -0400
From:        Stephen Tvedten <steve@getipm.com>
Organization:     Get Set Inc. (www.getipm.com)

To:     Paul Helliker <phelliker@cdpr.ca.gov>
          Director, State of California, Department of Pesticide Regulation 

cc:    Christine Whitman whitman.christine@epa.gov

Dear Mr. Helliker, I thought you might like to read an article that was published on HeraldNet on Wednesday, May 16, 2001, entitled: New law on pesticides - Schools must tell parents before spraying. By Eric Stevick and Susanna Ray - Herald Writers.

OLYMPIA -- "Say before you spray" is the gist of a new state law requiring schools and day cares to notify parents before they use pesticides.

"This bill gives parents critical information about pesticides," said Erika Schreder of the Washington Toxics Coalition, which lobbied for the bill for four years before Gov. Gary Locke signed it into law on Tuesday.

Pesticide applicators are already required to put signs at school entrances saying when they're going to spray on school grounds.

The new law goes a step further.

As of July 2002, public schools and licensed day cares will have to come up with a system to notify parents 48 hours before pesticides are applied. They will also have to give parents annual reports detailing their pest control policies and procedures, and they'll have to make records available of all pesticide applications.

What happened

As of July 1, 2002, public schools and licensed day cares will be required to develop a system to notify interested parents 48 hours before pesticides or herbicides are used on school grounds.

That way, concerned parents, especially those whose children have health problems such as asthma, can either tell their kids to stay away from certain areas of the school or keep them home from school when chemicals are used.

In the legislation, pesticides are defined as any substance used to kill or repel pests or to control or kill plants such as weeds.

"Pesticides have devastating effects on children's health," Schreder said. "Most people don't know that pesticides are used in schools, but weedkillers are actually very common."

Eighty-eight percent of school districts across the state surveyed by the Washington Toxics Coalition reported using pesticides during the 1997-98 school year. The study examined chemicals used to kill weeds, insects and rodents. The largest volumes were used for weed control.

Studies have linked the pesticides commonly used in schools to learning disabilities and behavior problems, damage to the nervous system, hormone disruption and cancer, the coalition reports.

Children are more likely to be exposed than adults because they are lower to the ground, run around on the grass more and put their hands to their mouths more.

"This is certainly something we can live with, and we will look at what we need to do to accomplish this," said Debbie Jakala, spokeswoman for the Edmonds School District, which maintains more than 575 acres spread out over 34 campuses and other properties.

In the Granite Falls School District, the new law is not likely to have much effect. The district doesn't use chemicals beyond spraying the herbicide Roundup along fence lines during the summer when students are not in the area, said Mike Sullivan, the district's director of business and operations.

Heather Hansen, executive director of Washington Friends of Farms and Forests, said the law gives some leeway to how schools can notify parents. For example, word may come from a school newsletter, aletter in a backpack or a registry where concerned parents can ask that they receive notification when spraying is going to occur.

Dana Pratt, an entomologist who runs Pratt Pest Management of Stanwood, said the new law represents years of discussion.

"To me, it's an intelligently balanced approach to minimizing pests in school," said Pratt, a past president of the Washington State PestControl Association. "It educates the districts and forces them to bethinking about their pest management plans, and at the same time it's not overly Draconian that it ties their hands ... to do what they need to do to control pests."

Some schools have used volunteer weed pullers or changed their landscape designs to eliminate the need to spray at all.

"There's no justification for using pesticides for cosmetic reasons at schools," Schreder said.

Jon Evavold, principal of Columbia Elementary in the Mukilteo School District, agrees. In 1996, Columbia was the first school in the state to sign a pest-control pledge, which asserts the school will not use pesticides for aesthetic reasons but only if pests present a health or safety hazard.

"We have a real active Adopt-a-Garden program," Evavold said. "It's going great, the pesticideless approach to maintaining our gardens."

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Here are some chemicals used by local schools:

Roundup kills every green plant it touches by stopping the production of food within the plant. Ortho, the company that makes it, advises people not enter the area for 24 hours after it has been applied.

Casoron is a dry, granular weed killer used to prevent weeds from growing around trees and other woody plants.

Diazinon is sprayed or spread by granules to kill about 75 different insects, typically crane flies in lawns. Ortho suggests Diazinon not be used near edible plants because of its toxicity.

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You can call Herald Writer Eric Stevick at 425-339-3446 or send e-mail to stevick@heraldnet.com.

This story can be found at: http://www.heraldnet.com/Stories/01/5/16/13749634.cfm Copyright © 2001 The Daily Herald Co., Everett, Wash.   If you have questions or comments, please contact us at newmedia@heraldnet.com.

Well Mr. Helliker,  This law sort of points out why the people of Fairfax want to be notified in advance of being POISONED!  By the way, weeds (as do all plants) die when they are dug out, covered with visquine, singed with propane torches, steamed, or when they are sprayed with applications of "straight" vinegar or Coke Cola, or with diluted Borax, salt, several cleaning products and/or rubbing alcohol.  All of which are some of the unregistered alternatives that I use to actually control weeds.

Respectfully,  Stephen L. Tvedten

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