Tens of thousands California residents are being sprayed under the cover of night with pesticides containing partly unknown chemicals. These sprayings, conducted inadequate health studies, are done not to protect residents from a clear and present public health danger, but rather to protect special interests worried about eradicating the Light Brown Apple Moth (LBAM).
The LBAM spray operations in Central Coast counties of Monterey and Santa Cruz resulted in over 600 reports of health illnesses. State authorities have not only failed to respond, but now plan new LBAM aerial spray operations in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Californians have a right to refuse fumigation without proof of a clear and present public health danger. Any mandatory pesticide spraying of chemicals must be shown to address a clear and present public health danger, and must be approved by the people in the area to be sprayed with a vote.
More Information:
The LBAM eradication spraying has been ordered by the Secretary of Agriculture, and due to a declared "state of emergency," representatives and residents are currently legally powerless to stop this. The legitimacy of this so-called "emergency" is uncertain; the LBAM poses no risk to human health but rather a contested threat to certain crops and plants.
Yet, government agencies approving the LBAM plan admit that the pesticide could pose a threat to some people, stating "not all health effects can be predicted and because the general population includes susceptible (people), such as children, the elderly and those with chronic diseases, we cannot provide a definitive cause for their symptoms [experienced after the spraying in Santa Cruz and Monterey]."
Read the following letter from Assemblymember John Laird of the 27th district to the Secretary of Agriculture demanding explanation. In his letter on September 24, 2007 you will see a dialog between the Assemblymember and the Secretary on this issue: http://democrats.assembly.ca.gov/members/a27/moth.htm
The bottom line is that the Secretary of Agriculture secured power to conduct LBAM aerial spraying of chemicals which at least in part were of unknown composition over urban areas of California against public outcry and concern.
We need laws that protect us and our environment, not special interests, and to ensure that we are not subjected to chemicals against our individual rights without an immediate health danger, due process, and a public vote.
Tens of thousands California residents are being sprayed under the cover of night with pesticides containing partly unknown chemicals. These sprayings, conducted inadequate health studies, are done not to protect residents from a clear and present public health danger, but rather to protect special interests worried about eradicating the Light Brown Apple Moth (LBAM).
The LBAM spray operations in Central Coast counties of Monterey and Santa Cruz resulted in over 600 reports of health illnesses. State authorities have not only failed to respond, but now plan new LBAM aerial spray operations in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Californians have a right to refuse fumigation without proof of a clear and present public health danger. Any mandatory pesticide spraying of chemicals must be shown to address a clear and present public health danger, and must be approved by the people in the area to be sprayed with a vote.
More Information:
The LBAM eradication spraying has been ordered by the Secretary of Agriculture, and due to a declared "state of emergency," representatives and residents are currently legally powerless to stop this. The legitimacy of this so-called "emergency" is uncertain; the LBAM poses no risk to human health but rather a contested threat to certain crops and plants.
Yet, government agencies approving the LBAM plan admit that the pesticide could pose a threat to some people, stating "not all health effects can be predicted and because the general population includes susceptible (people), such as children, the elderly and those with chronic diseases, we cannot provide a definitive cause for their symptoms [experienced after the spraying in Santa Cruz and Monterey]."
Read the following letter from Assemblymember John Laird of the 27th district to the Secretary of Agriculture demanding explanation. In his letter on September 24, 2007 you will see a dialog between the Assemblymember and the Secretary on this issue: http://democrats.assembly.ca.gov/members/a27/moth.htm
The bottom line is that the Secretary of Agriculture secured power to conduct LBAM aerial spraying of chemicals which at least in part were of unknown composition over urban areas of California against public outcry and concern.
We need laws that protect us and our environment, not special interests, and to ensure that we are not subjected to chemicals against our individual rights without an immediate health danger, due process, and a public vote.
I am opposed to aerial spraying without consent in the Bay Area. Californians have a right to informed consent regarding pesticides sprayed by the state over homes and communities.
It is clear from the recent actions of the Secretary of Agriculture, Secretary Kawamura, that this right is not respected by the state, that aerial spraying is conducted without proper consent, disclosures, or regard for safety, and that new legislation is needed to insure this does not happen in the future.
We therefore demand legislation requiring that any mandatory aerial spraying of any chemical over populated areas or private property must have the explicit consent of the individuals and property owners, or it must be shown that such spraying is necessary to address a clear and present public health danger. Further, if the spraying it to address a public health danger, it must be approved by a 2/3 majority public vote.
We signed the "Stop fumigation of citizens without their consent in California" petition!
# 31,815:
11:41 am PDT, Oct 30,Lindsay Ramos, Indiana
# 31,814:
7:10 am PDT, Oct 30,Gina Quiniano, California
The citizens should always have a say in issues like this. Approval always has to come, first, from the citizens.
# 31,813:
10:09 pm PDT, Oct 29,Vivian Nguyen, California
Please stop all toxic chemicals which harm public health especially to the residents of Moterey and Santa Cruz.
# 31,812:
11:15 am PDT, Oct 29,Doug Pfaff, New York
# 31,811:
4:23 am PDT, Oct 29,Vincent Young, Ohio
# 31,810:
8:26 pm PDT, Oct 28,Homa Pourasgari, California
Dear Arnold & the U.S. Government, stop fumigating me. I am not a bug and nor do I appreciate you feeding me the same chemicals you feed your pests.
# 31,809:
3:58 pm PDT, Oct 28,Francisco Anta, Spain
# 31,808:
1:42 pm PDT, Oct 28,Angelika Vitalie, California
# 31,807:
1:09 pm PDT, Oct 28,Adriana Broullon, California
I don't want to be exposed to chemicals!
# 31,806:
12:26 pm PDT, Oct 28,Maria Antonietta PAGANO, Italy
# 31,805:
9:23 am PDT, Oct 28,Kristina Carey, California
# 31,804:
8:44 pm PDT, Oct 27,Daniel Weiss, California
stop the spray! the treatment of CA citizens (or anybody, for that matter) in this way is proposterous, especially when it is mandated by the authorities which govern the people. are you a government which works for it's people? because these days it seems like it is us who are working for you. where is the justice in that? stop the spray or we will stop our support!
# 31,803:
4:35 pm PDT, Oct 27,Antoinette Chavez, California
We our having allergic like reactions from these sprays
I felt that we were being sprayed without consent and lo and behold I was right! Stop now.........
# 31,802:
3:13 pm PDT, Oct 27,Amanda Greenlee, California
Please please don't spray us!!!!!
# 31,801:
2:29 pm PDT, Oct 27,Tom Feulner, California
# 31,800:
10:53 am PDT, Oct 27,April Arisian, California
# 31,799:
10:12 am PDT, Oct 27,Barbara Katherine James, California
# 31,798:
8:54 am PDT, Oct 27,Babs Brown Mitchell, California
No one should be fumigated without his or her consent. Many of us are already sick due to pesticides and other toxins, and our symptoms become worse with each exposure. We cannot escape from aerial spraying. It gets in our houses. It gets in our clothes. It gets in our furniture. It gets in our lungs. Why would you do that? Stop the spraying NOW!
# 31,797:
12:30 am PDT, Oct 27,Carla Haim, California
Carla R. Haim
# 31,796:
6:38 pm PDT, Oct 26,Megan Workman, California
# 31,795:
5:22 pm PDT, Oct 26,Wolfgang Rougle, California
No one should be subjected to aerial spraying without consent. In most civilized countries, the right of citizens not to be sprayed with pesticides would count for more than the pressures from a politically powerful, anxious agricultural industry.
# 31,794:
4:30 pm PDT, Oct 26,Joan Abruzzo, New York
# 31,793:
3:53 pm PDT, Oct 26,Elizabeth Hope, Minnesota
# 31,792:
3:43 pm PDT, Oct 26,Martin Rapalski, California
# 31,791:
3:01 pm PDT, Oct 26,Jan Landman, California
# 31,790:
1:59 pm PDT, Oct 26,Jory Froggatt, North Carolina
This looks like a plot to make people sick - more and more people get cancer every day, it looks like our government is in support of making citizens ill.
# 31,789:
12:32 pm PDT, Oct 26,Luke Gilson, California
# 31,788:
10:24 am PDT, Oct 26,Don Bolanos, Washington
For more impact, add a personal comment here
# 31,787:
2:28 am PDT, Oct 26,Edward Oberweiser, California
I have recently moved to Fort Bragg from Santa Cruz and will work to stop such travesties as the aerial spraying of Santa Cruz and Monterey Counties.
One of my best friends was forced to move from Santa Cruz due to the spraying. Her daughter was especially sensitive to the chemicals in the LBAM spray. She got extremely sick after going to Monterey a week after the spraying there.
I noticed that the spraying was over residential areas in Santa Cruz county not agricultural areas. What was up with that?
# 31,786:
12:57 am PDT, Oct 26,Frederick Kennedy, Hawaii
# 31,785:
12:09 am PDT, Oct 26,Maggie Wilson, Oregon
Using pesticides without the consent or notice of local residents is in direct violation of ones right to protect their health. I demand that you stop spraying the fields.
# 31,784:
11:19 pm PDT, Oct 25,Jana Bogs, Hawaii
# 31,783:
9:55 pm PDT, Oct 25,Marilyn Cornelius, California
# 31,782:
8:37 pm PDT, Oct 25,Gail Caswell, California
# 31,781:
7:15 pm PDT, Oct 25,Daniel Bartsch, California
I am disabled, and so are a number of my friends. We tend to be more sensitive to active, as well as the so called "inactive" insecticide solvents and carriers. Eventually you will spray someone who has the political power and the money, or the determination, to take action against this short sighted spraying of citizens, and then you will look bad. Why wait for that. Change the spray policy now, and stop spraying now.
# 31,780:
5:28 pm PDT, Oct 25,Martin Kelley, California
# 31,779:
3:26 pm PDT, Oct 25,Paul Tuff, California
Protect the people being sprayed, not the profits of those who spray.
# 31,778:
1:59 pm PDT, Oct 25,Shana Behan, California
# 31,777:
1:05 pm PDT, Oct 25,Kim Wendt, California
# 31,776:
12:09 pm PDT, Oct 25,Jeanne Bjorn, Oregon
# 31,775:
11:23 am PDT, Oct 25,Name not displayed, Kentucky
# 31,774:
11:11 pm PDT, Oct 24,Marvin Gentz, California
# 31,773:
9:55 pm PDT, Oct 24,Kay Snow-Davis, Hawaii
You have no right to pollute the air we breath without informing us so we can vote on this invasion on our wellness.
# 31,772:
8:27 pm PDT, Oct 24,Mariama Alario, California
# 31,771:
6:24 pm PDT, Oct 24,Noelle Everhart, Arizona
# 31,770:
5:50 pm PDT, Oct 24,Jeffrey Mead, Texas
# 31,769:
5:18 pm PDT, Oct 24,Name not displayed, California
# 31,768:
4:50 pm PDT, Oct 24,Linda Rivera, New York
Stop endangering health! Use something natural and safe to take care of the problem. Before dangerous pesticides, people managed just fine.
# 31,767:
4:49 pm PDT, Oct 24,Danielle White, California
# 31,766:
1:23 pm PDT, Oct 24,Angelica Domato, New York
# 31,765:
12:23 pm PDT, Oct 24,Wendy Rosenau, Washington
It is IRRESPONSIBLE for a small group of persons to decide that they can pollute a comuunity of a million people or even one person.
# 31,764:
12:18 pm PDT, Oct 24,Gwyneth Catlin, Indiana
I have had personal experience with illness following insecticide spraying. I can't believe that individual rights are trumped when it comes to business/big ag interests.
# 31,763:
12:08 pm PDT, Oct 24,Nancy M. Colbert Colbert, Colorado
I am horrified to hear that the general public is being sprayed with anything, especially something toxic!!!!! This should be stopped immediately! To do this without their consent is in extreme violation of ones rights and safety. What horrible thing might some corporation want to do next?
# 31,762:
11:46 am PDT, Oct 24,Name not displayed, California
Please consider our children's health before any corporate profiteering. It is an outrage that fumigation containing some unknown chemicals without knowing the full posed risks to human health is being done without the public's consent!! This is criminal and a shame that our state is even allowing this to happen...
# 31,761:
11:32 am PDT, Oct 24,Stephen Santangelo, Nevada
# 31,760:
10:16 am PDT, Oct 24,Victoria Hart, Ohio
For more impact, add a personal comment here
# 31,759:
9:54 am PDT, Oct 24,Al Coury, Florida
# 31,758:
9:46 am PDT, Oct 24,Deborah Gouge, Pennsylvania
# 31,757:
9:14 am PDT, Oct 24,Sandra Danu, Florida
# 31,756:
9:06 am PDT, Oct 24,Name not displayed, California
The pesticide industry uses chemicals that exterminated people during WWI like nerve gas. Why is this practice continued until the guise of killing insects? Oh yes - for profit!
