Exposure: Roseburg man sprayed twice doing federal volunteer work in Colorado
Subject: Herbicide victim seeks end of use on fed lands
Date: Tue, 23 Oct 2001 12:50:08 -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 entitled: Herbicide victim seeks end of use on fed lands - Exposure: Roseburg man sprayed twice doing federal volunteer work in Colorado - JEFF WILLIS - The News-Review - October 19, 2001.
Twice exposed to herbicide sprays as a federal volunteer in Colorado, a Roseburg-area man is on a mission to end pesticide and herbicide use on federal lands.
Ted Weintraub said it seemed natural for him to do some volunteer work while on vacation in Colorado this past summer. After all, he'd been an active retiree and volunteer with the Umpqua National Forest, Bureau of Land Management and the Douglas County Museum of History and Natural History for nearly three years. "I'm a positive kind of guy and I like to help," Weintraub said. "But now, after what I've been through, I'm angry. You can't afford to have this carelessness. It's created a scary situation for me."
While volunteering for the U.S. Forest Service and BLM district office near Durango, Colo., Weintraub said he and a seasonal worker were heavily sprayed twice with a mixture of herbicides while traveling on a dirt road. The pair were trying to pass an herbicide-applying all-terrain vehicle. Weintraub said they signaled and he believed the operator saw them. But as they passed, the operator resumed spraying, filling the cab with a cloud of herbicide. After backing off, they signaled again and proceeded - only to be sprayed a second time.
"Then came the headaches, eye irritation, rashes, mood swings and sleep problems, but the worst thing was that nobody seemed to care. It took months to get information on what I was sprayed with," he said. "This could happen anywhere. I think it's time for people to know about the risks."
Although he was sprayed on July 30, it took Weintraub more than eight weeks to finally learn he'd been sprayed with a total of four herbicides, one of which is described by experts as a "chemical cousin" to agent orange, a defoliant used widely by the U.S. military in Vietnam and now known to be harmful.
Weintraub said it was difficult to know where to go for information he desperately needed as his symptoms became more noticeable. He finally turned to specialists at the Environmental Protection Agency in Seattle and representatives of the Eugene-based Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides to get the help he needed to start receiving treatment.
Under a 1999 Oregon law on pesticide use reporting, Weintraub's Colorado experience shouldn't repeat itself here. Even small quantities of chemical agents from pesticides to fungicides and defoliants will now be reported to the Oregon Department of Agriculture by government agencies, schools, other districts, landlords, restaurants, stores, and those working in agriculture and forestry. The law requires annual reports through an electronic system yet to be devised so researchers can track the effects of these chemicals on the environment and human populations.
The law requires that the public be informed of any chemicals used on public lands in Oregon.
"We don't currently use pesticides or herbicides on forest land," said Liz Stevenson-Shaw, spokeswoman for the Umpqua National Forest. "The only use is at the Dorena Tree Improvement Center near Cottage Grove where researchers are working in nursery conditions."
Stevenson-Shaw added that any chemical product currently used on the Umpqua National Forest - including gasoline fuel, cleansers, water-testing chemicals and other materials - are also tracked on a material safety data sheet with detailed information on the concentration and nature of materials used. "If we need to begin providing information to the state of Oregon, there will be no difficulty in doing so," Stevenson-Shaw said.
Weintraub's physician - Dr. Stuart Lanson, a self-described practitioner of environmental medicine - said information on health and exposure is critical to a good diagnosis of many problems mistaken for allergies, infection and other illnesses.
Weintraub is going through a detoxification regimen at the Scottsdale, Ariz., Allergy, Asthma and Environmental Health Center.
He said he is feeling better and is determined to get the word out about the dangers pesticides and herbicides can present to the public. He plans to write a book about his experiences as a federal volunteer with a focus on this key issue and agency.
"If people follow all instructions, the average person may not be affected by chemically treated areas," said Lanson, a physician specialist at the clinic where Weintraub is being treated. "But some people can be made very ill by even very low exposure. There are many people out there that are chemically injured and don't have a clue. Pesticide use reporting can provide potentially important history to illnesses."
* You can reach reporter Jeff Willis at 957-4218 or by e-mail at jwillis@oregonnews.com.
Source url: http://www.oregonnews.com/1.news/10.19.news1.html
Well Mr. Helliker, here is just "another innocent victim" of your "registered" POISONS. How "many more" will it take, for you to "legally" allow the use of safe and far more effective unregistered alternatives? "I also think it's time for people to know about the risks." When will you "legally" allow Fairfax residents to know the risks?
Respectfully, Stephen L. Tvedten
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