After two years of preparation and delays, Caltrans has issued a draft environmental impact report on its vegetation control program, and is giving the public just until October 5 to comment.
Based on the document and public input, Caltrans-- now the biggest single pesticide user in California--must decide whether to continue its program of spraying tens of thousands of pounds of toxic herbicides along thousands of miles of public highways each year, or to find non-toxic alternatives and end its chemical dependence.
Caltrans has spent more than $6000,000 on an environmental impact report that could leave its massive herbicide use unchanged. Much of the document attempts to justify and rationalize continued chemical dependence.
The agency must adopt a policy of eliminating herbicides from its maintenance program, set deadlines for itself and then take steps to reach that goal.
At a time when society is looking for ways to reduce the toxic burden it has placed on the environment, Caltrans can and should be a leader for the state and nation in developing safe and effective vegetation control, without chemicals.
Manual labor, moving and special landscaping can reduce herbicide use and lower long-term costs. But Caltrans has failed to investigate mew technologies for reducing or eliminating weed problems.
Along Canada's railroads, weed-barriers, crackfilling materials and steam are used to kill trackside weeds more safely and effectively than herbicides
The Caltran's EIR should propose a program of testing and implementing non-toxic methods, and training and encouraging Caltrans employees to seek alternatives to herbicides.
People Are Being Exposed To Pesticides Without Their Knowledge or Consent
Caltrans does not give advance notice of its spray activities, post sprayed area, or act to keep people out of newly sprayed areas. As a result, people are being exposed to pesticides used by Caltrans without their knowledge or consent.
Many of the roadsides of highways in California are used on a regular basis by children traveling to and from school, by joggers, bicyclists and walkers.
Although the labels for herbicides used in large quantity by Caltrans say people should be kept out of treated areas until the spray solution has dried, Caltran's EIR attempts to justify the agency's lack of precaution.
People who develop health problems after contact with roadside pesticides usually don't realize that pesticides caused their illness. Even exposure to small quantities of pesticides can affect sensitive individuals such as infants, the elderly and those with allergies or certain health problems.
The "right to know" about spray exposure is of paramount importance to this segment of the population. Yet Caltrans' EIR says too little is known about these problems to propose any action.
Harmful To Human Health
A toxicologist hired by citizen groups to review the Caltrans program concluded that many of the Caltrans herbicides are potent human toxins.
The state's evaluation of long-term health effects of the active ingredients in pesticides used in California, as required by SB 950 (The Birth Defect Prevention Act), listed possible adverse long-term effects for many of the pesticides used by Caltrans.
Caltrans admits in its EIR that the full extent of the health effects from pesticide exposure is uncertain. In addition to "data gaps" (where state-required research has not been done), the toxicity of many so-called "inert" ingredients are largely unknown.
Also, the combined and cumulative effects from exposure to multiple herbicides and environmental toxins are not known, and are not seriously considered in the Caltrans EIR.
Caltrans' EIR acts as though exposure to each toxic herbicide occurs in a vacuum, rather than as a part of the daily toxic assault faced by each of us- and by the environment.
A growing number of the cities and counties in California have roadside vegetation programs which are based on non-chemical methods of management. Mechanical methods, such as mowing and grading, are most common. Manual labor is also used. Pesticides are not used, or are only used rarely and for limited purposes.
In areas where the public favors the use of nonchemical methods, and the cities and counties use little or no pesticide, Caltrans' extensive pesticide use creates a conflict, yet EIR offers little opportunity for local control.
Caltrans commonly sprays pesticides along the highways during the fall, winter, and spring. When rainfall occurs after Caltrans has applied pesticides, the runoff from the highways carries pesticide residue into creeks, wetlands and other water systems near the highways.
Caltrans does not propose to monitor or map any of the possible routes of runoff from its herbicide program.
The 1988 discovery that a shallow well used for public drinking water in Humbolt County was polluted by Caltrans' herbicides raised questions about the risk to water systems on residential property near highways. The risk is increased when Caltrans applies pesticides in the winter and spring, since the water table is highest and runoff the greatest at those times.
Two of the active ingredients in pesticides which are used, by Caltrans in large amounts, Diuron and Simazine, have been identified by the EPA as causing groundwater contamination.
As required by AB 2021, the Pesticide Contamination Prevention Act, Cal-EPA is planning to restrict applications of Simazine and Diuron, including right-of-way use, in certain parts of the state where groundwater contamination has already occured.
In addition to pollution of roadsides, water,and air caused by Caltrans' herbicides program, the agency as the largest single user of herbicides in the state, contributes greatly to the hazards to workers, communities and the environment where these materials are manufactured. And transporting these materials by highway and rail contributes to disastrous spills and accidents.
The "scorched earth" practices of Caltrans are ugly and contribute to the negative impacts of highway use. Planting easy-to-control vegetation in roadside strips would be better than chemically clearing the earth for litter and undesirable plants.
To read the Draft Environmental Impact Report on Caltrans' Vegetation Control Program, visit your county library or get your own copy by writing to Ralph Carhart, Division of Highway Maintenance, 1120 N.St., Sacramento, CA 95814.
Copyright Mendocino Environmental Center 2004
Permission granted to excerpt or use this article if source is cited