See Newton Herbicide Update 6 15 2011 here:  
http://tinyurl.com/UpdateJune152011

Green Decade Collecting Emails for Herbicide Notification List

by Ellie Goldberg

Got Herbicides?  The MBTA, the Turnpike, the Highway Department, DCR Urban Parks and CSX Railway plan to spray herbicides in Newton this summer.  

According to the Vegetation Management Plans*, the chemical products they use are Roundup-Pro or Razor-Pro alone or in combination with Arsenal, Escort XP, Oust Extra or Oust XP. 

The MBTA will spray tracks and ballast areas and the brush on the immediate perimeter sometime in late July and twice in late August, according to applicator Mark Lacombe from Northern Tree Service.  

The Green Decade/Newton, a non-profit environmental advocacy and education organization, believes that residents have a right to know where and when herbicides are sprayed, especially near homes, yards, gardens and children's play areas, as well as public parkways, roads, sidewalks, paths and trails.

Eight Newton residents recently met new Health Commissioner Dori Zalesnik and Senior Environmental Health Specialist John McNally to advocate for a policy of transparency and community notification of all the herbicide applications by all of the state agencies.

Although notification is no defense against exposure nor protection from herbicide drift and run off, it does alert us to the State's use of pesticides. Unfortunately, the State’s fact sheets use 1980s research to claim there is no herbicide run-off or drift.  Current research shows these claims to be untrue.

State regulations require that the applicators put a notice in at least one newspaper 48 hours before the herbicide application.  However we believe that it is not an adequate alert now that so many of us rely on digital communication.

During our meeting at the Health Department, we asked about using the city's 311 system to notify residents of spraying.  Dr. Zalesnik said she was unsure if this would be an appropriate use of the system. 

As an alternative, Marcia Cooper, Green Decade president, offered to collect emails from interested residents to provide to the Health Department.  Dr. Zalesnik could then simply send out emails when she gets a 21 day notice from the herbicide applicators of the estimated ten-day time frame for the spraying.  

If you would like the Green Decade to put your email on the notification list, send your name and email to info@greendecade.org

For more information on herbicides, cancer and the Precautionary Principle, see the following resources and more at Don't Spray 'em. Outsmart 'em.  http://safefrompesticides.blogspot.com

Massachusetts Breast Cancer Coalition article about the President's Cancer Panel: http://mbcc.org/breast-cancer-prevention/index.php/2011/05/is-anyone-protecting-us/

The Presidents Cancer Panel Report: Reducing Environmental Cancer Risk: What We Can Do Now

The Precautionary Principle: http://www.silentspring.org/breast-cancer-and-environment/fact-sheets/precautionary-principle, http://www.silentspring.org/faqs/precautionary-principle, http://www.sehn.org/ppfaqs.html

Boston Neighborhood Pesticide Action Committee (NPAC)  http://www.npacboston.org/) letter to the MBTA and Massachusetts Department of Transportation summarizing the links of the herbicides to cancer and other health hazards as well as soil and water contamination and asking for a MBTA NO SPRAY policy.  

*Massachusetts Rights of Way Vegetation Management Plans http://www.mass.gov/agr/pesticides/rightofway/index.htm  

-- Ellie Goldberg, M.Ed., is founder of www.healthy-kids.info and former co-chair of the Green Decade's Committee for Alternatives to Pesticides (http://greendecade.org/greencap.html).

RailRoad Application Notice

This was information in a Boston Globe "notice" -- June 2010.
Did anyone notice this notice?

Approved herbicide applications will be accomplished by either back-pack or on-track vehicles, and will be with Roundup-Pro or Razor-Pro, alone or in combination with Arsenal, Escort XP, Oust Extra or Oust XP. Products to be used are approved for use by the Massachusetts Departments of Agricultural Resources and Environmental Protection Agency. (MGL c. 132B sec. 6B)

Schedule 2010 Herbicide Applications:

20 June - 4 July and 30 August -10 September 2010
4 -18 July 2010
27 June - 11 July 2010
31 May -11 June and 30 August - 10 September 2010
7 - 31 July and 9 - 30 September 2010
27 June - 11 July and 30 August - 10 September 2010
5 - 16 July 2010
21 June - 2 July 2010
14 - 25 June and 2 - 13 August 2010
31 May - 11 June 2010

Amtrak
Bay Colony Railroad
Fore River Transportation
Housatonic Railroad

MBTA Rapid Transit

Mass Bay Commuter Railroad
Mass Coastal Railroad
Mass Central Railroad
Pioneer Valley Railroad
Providence & Worcester Railroad

Questions or comments regarding railroad vegetation control
should be addressed to:
Kyle Fair
TEC Associates
46 Sawyer Street
South Portland, ME 04106
(207) 653-6206

RAILROAD RIGHTS-OF-WAY ARE PRIVATE PROPERTY AND TRESPASSING IS
PROHIBITED BY LAW (MGL c. 160, sections 218 and 220)

Complete text: here

Updates about 2010 Herbicide Application

Update from Michael McClean, Michael.Mcclean@state.ma.us
Pesticide Bureau as of 4/13/2011

CSX Railroad

20’ spray pattern (10’ off center of track)

Application Rate: 30 gallons of mixture/acre

2.42 acres/mile

7 miles of track in Newton

Pesticides applied on ballast (tracks):

Razor Pro – 2quarts of concentrate/30 gallons

Oust XP – 4 ounces of concentrate/30 gallons

Escort – 2 ounces of concentrate/ 30 gallons

Total usage of pesticides concentrates in Newton:

Razor Pro – 33.9 quarts or 4.84 quarts/mile

Oust XP – 67.9 ounces or 9.7 ounces/mile

Escort – 33.9 ounces or 4.84 ounces/mile

Mass Pike

1’-3’ spray pattern to shoulder and medians

Application Rate: average 3.21 gallons of mixture/mile

10.4 miles of treated in Newton (5.2 east bound, 5.2 west bound)

Pesticides applied on Mass Pike:

Accord Concentrate- 2.5 gallons of concentrate/100 gallons

Oust- 2 ounces of concentrate/100 gallons

Total usage of pesticide concentrates in Newton:

Accord Concentrate – 0.835 gallons or 0.080 gallons/mile

Oust – 0.668 ounces or 0.064 ounces /mile

Updates as of 4/20/2011 regarding pesticide applications 2010.

Let me know if these links don't work for you.

[ ] NOTICE MBTA CFPA Advertiesment.pdf (application/pdf) 42K

[ ] CSX RWC App Records AR-M257_20110319_033430.pdf (application/pdf) 2365K

[ ] DCR Application Record.pdf (application/pdf) 294K

[ ] Mass Pike 2010 spray notice 6-5-10.pdf (application/pdf) 269K

[ ] Mass Pike Application Records.pdf (application/pdf) 1482K

[ ] MBTA Application Records.pdf (application/pdf) 587K

"I am waiting on a couple of other piece of info to calculate the use in Newton for MBTA and DCR." MMcClean.

"I am still hoping to obtain the information in a simple format that shows what, where and when." Ellie

Still waiting for Newton's herbicide information 3 1 2011

From Ellie Goldberg, ellie.goldberg@gmail.com, 617 965-9637
To Bob Rooney, rrooney@newtonma.gov
2/24/2011

Dear Bob,

I am writing to ask if you received my January 25 email asking you to follow up on your promise to find out where and when herbicides were used by state contractors in Newton in 2010.  (Still waiting for 2010 Newton Herbicide reports 1 25 2011.) 

As you may know, Mayor Warren is going to be introducing speakers at the Green Decade Environmental Series event about protecting water resources on Monday, 2/28.   Many of the residents concerned about herbicide use on Newton's Rights of Way will be there.  It would be very timely to have the details of the 2010 herbicide applications.  (See PUBLIC NOTIFICATION: What do the regs say?)

For your information, I just posted a letter from the Boston Neighborhood Pesticide Action Committee to the MBTA and Massachusetts Department of Transportation asking for a MBTA NO SPRAY policy. It summarizes the links of the herbicides in the new Vegetation Management Plans to cancer and other health hazards as well as soil and water contamination.

Marcia Cooper, president Green Decade/Newton, was one of the signers along with other environmental health and environmental justice advocacy groups. 

I hope Mayor Warren will also be interested to learn about the history of herbicide use on Newton's Rights of Way and commit to joining the local and statewide advocacy efforts to protect public health and the environment.

Please call me if you have any new information or have questions.  I look forward to your update.

Yours truly,

Ellie Goldberg
Don't Spray 'Em, Outsmart 'Em

NPAC BOSTON: NO SPRAY POLICY ON THE MBTA?

neighborhood pesticide action committee
p.o. box 300752  ■  jamaica plain, ma 02130
www.npacboston.org

General Manager Richard A. Davey
Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
10 Park Plaza, Suite 3910
Boston, MA 02116

Secretary and Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Mullan
Massachusetts Department of Transportation
10 Park Plaza, Suite 3170, Boston, MA 02116

February 4, 2011

Dear General Manager Davey and Secretary Mullan:
    As part of its five year Vegetation Management Plan for 2011-2015, submitted August 2010 in compliance with 333 CMR 11.00, MassDOT intends to eradicate vegetation using herbicide treatments along MBTA’s Rapid Transit System rights-of-way.  MassDOT intends to apply six different herbicides along the railway tracks in Boston, Braintree, Brookline, Cambridge, Malden, Medford, Milton, Newton, Quincy, Revere and Somerville.
    The use of herbicides to control weed growth along rights-of-way is an unnecessary risk to public health and the environment.  Herbicides are toxic to living organisms, and their use has been linked to a wide range of health problems, including cancer, reproductive harm, and endocrine disruption.  Herbicides sprayed by MBTA can and do come into direct contact with residents - particularly in high minority, urban communities, where residents and parks are often in close proximity to the train tracks - and have the potential to migrate into waterways as well.
    Effective, non-chemical alternatives are readily available to control weeds along rights of way. We, the undersigned organizations, oppose herbicide use along rights-of-way by MassDOT, and ask that MassDOT commit to a no-spray policy for the following reasons:
    We urge you to stop spraying starting in 2011 for several reasons:

• Herbicides are harmful to living organisms.  Herbicides, like all pesticides, are designed to kill, and they can harm more than just their intended targets.   MBTA plans to use glyphosate (Accord, Round Up), imazapyr (Arsenal), metsulfuron methyl (Escort), triclopyr (Garlon 4), sulfometuron methyl (Oust), and fosamine ammonium (Krenite).  All of the herbicides intended for use have been linked to negative impacts on human health and/or the environment.

• Glyphosate is one of the most widely used pesticides in the country, and a study in 1999 by the American Cancer Society linked glyphosate exposure to non-Hodgkin Lymphoma.#
• Imazapyr moves readily in soil and can persist in soil for over a year.#
• Metsulforon methyl is classified as highly mobile and can travel through soil with water and enter groundwater.  It can also move with runoff and enter surface water.#
• In laboratory tests, triclopyr caused an increase in the incidence of breast cancer and reproductive problems.#
• Enough sulfometuron methyl to kill desirable vegetation can persist in soil for a year after application.#
• Fosamine ammonium has been linked to kidney damage.#

• Pesticide spraying is an environmental justice issue that deserves attention here, since urban communities are often in close proximity to railway tracks.  It has been well established that working class communities and communities of color in Massachusetts are disproportionately burdened with environmental toxins due to the unequal distribution of such hazards as toxics waste sites and commercial/industrial polluters.  Pesticides may be an additional contributor to the toxic burden and health burden in many of these communities. #
• Non-toxic options are available, including mechanical methods like weed-cutting machines and hand-cutting tools, to adequately control plant overgrowth along rights-of-ways.

    We recognize the challenges in cost-effectively managing a complex transportation system like the MBTA, and recognize that herbicide treatment can be less expensive in the short-term; however, the use of herbicides on rights-of-way in residential and urban communities is an unnecessary risk for public health and the environment.
    We request that MassDOT commit to a no-spray policy on the MBTA.  Please contact us at 617 522-0205.

     Respectfully,

Margaret Connors, Co-Founder, Neighborhood Pesticide Action Committee,

Taryn Hallweaver, Eastern Massachusetts Community Organizer, Toxics Action Center,  Sylvia Broude, Organizing Director, Toxics Action Center,
Lizzi Weyant, Staff Attorney, MASSPIRG,
Lee Matsuda, Action for Communities and the Environment (ACE),
Melissa Hoffer, Vice President and Director of Healthy Communities and Environmental Justice Conservation Law Foundation,
Rafael Mares, Staff Attorney, Conservation Law Foundation,
Marsha Cooper, Green Decade - Newton,
Erica Mattison and Rick Reibstein  EJ Task Force of the Jewish Alliance for Law and Social Action  (JALSA),
Linda Hillyer, Chair of the Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS) Project of Boston Self Help Center

 cc John Auerbach, Massachusetts Public Health Commissioner
    Jeffrey Sanchez, State Representative
    Sonia Chang Diaz, State Senator

Inner-City Pesticide Use as an Environmental Injustice
Learn how using pesticides in poor and minority communities is an environmental justice issue.
Click here to read the summary of the report.
Click here to read the full report.

Still waiting for 2010 Newton Herbicide reports - correspondence

From: Ellie Goldberg <ellie.goldberg@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, Jan 25, 2011 at 4:34 PM
Subject: Re: reply to request
To: Linda Walsh <Linda_Walsh@newton.k12.ma.us>
Cc: rrooney@newtonma.gov, marciac <marciac@aol.com>

Hi Linda and Bob, 
     Thanks for getting back to me.  Unfortunately you didn't provide the Newton specific herbicide reports I was expecting.
     You provided links to the Vegetation Management Plans.  As you know from earlier emails, I already have all the Vegetation Management Plans and also posted the links to them on my Don't Spray 'Em, Outsmart 'Em website. 
     I was asking for the dates and other details of Newton's 2010 herbicide applications and the copies of the notifications that the applicators are required to provide to the city agencies by the state regulations.  We discussed the details of the notification and reporting requirements at the meeting in Bob Rooney's office. 
     Can I assume that the lack of documents means that none of the herbicide users gave proper notification to the city?
     Bob, can you follow up with your promise to obtain the information from the herbicide application contractors or agencies?
     Thanks for your help,
     Ellie 

What do the regs say about Public Notification?

From: Linda Walsh <Linda_Walsh@newton.k12.ma.us>
Date: Tue, Jan 25, 2011 at 3:46 PM
Subject: reply to request
To: Ellie Goldberg <ellie.goldberg@gmail.com>
Cc: rrooney@newtonma.gov

Dear Ellie,

The information you have requested regarding the herbicides used by various companies and agencies to control vegetation can be found on the website of the Department of Agricultural Resources, specifically:

http://www.mass.gov/agr/pesticides/rightofway/index.htm

The following conduct herbicide application in Newton:

Mass DOT District 6:

http://www.mass.gov/agr/pesticides/rightofway/vmp/MassDOT-D6-VMP-2011-2015.pdf

N Star lists Newton as one of the municipalities:

http://www.mass.gov/agr/pesticides/rightofway/vmp/NSTAR-VMP-2008-2012.pdf

CSX Railway:

http://www.mass.gov/agr/pesticides/rightofway/yop/CSX-MA-YOP-2010.pdf

Mass. DCR:

http://www.mass.gov/agr/pesticides/rightofway/yop/DCR-2010-YOP.pdf

MBTA Rapid Transit Lines:

http://www.mass.gov/agr/pesticides/rightofway/yop/MBTA-2010-YOP.pdf

The reports do not provide data on the amounts of herbicides applied in each community.  I have been informed that this is not part of their required submissions to the state. You might wish to contact the Right of Way Vegetation Management Division of the Department of Agricultural Resources for additional information.

( http://www.mass.gov/agr/pesticides/rightofway/index.htm )

As you have noted in your article, I have written to The Department of Agricultural Resources asking for more timely notification of when herbicide application will be undertaken in Newton.

Linda

Children Sprayed at Day Care with Railroad Herbicides

Note from Ellie: It is interesting to read this article because the MBTA tracks runs so close to homes, yards, play areas, and gardens in Newton. The MBTA are using the same herbicides as the ones in this story.  

(Beyond Pesticides, July 26, 2007) Children Sprayed at Day Care with Railroad Herbicides.  A company with previous pesticide violations will likely face a significant fine after accidentally spraying children at a day care in Virginia last week with herbicides. Several children were directly sprayed and at least three experienced symptoms of acute pesticide poisoning.

The company, NaturChem, was hired by Norfolk Southern to spray a section of railroad tracks, which they do every three years to suppress unwanted plants along the tracks. Sixteen children were playing outside at the day care, adjacent to the tracks as the NaturChem tanker went by. Four children, who were playing along the fence, were directly sprayed. While day care staff took them inside, washed them and changed their clothes immediately, at least three children had acute symptoms following their exposure, including a bloody nose, diarrhea, eye irritation, and blistering.

Read more here. And be sure to read the comments.

Also: HIRING A LANDSCAPER OR PEST CONTROL PROFESSIONAL 

Don't be fooled by contractor names that sound "environmentally friendly." Consumers need to be cautious and skeptical to avoid being poisoned. Be alert for false safety claims and unethical practices. Just because a company is named EnviroGreen or OrganoLawn doesn't mean that you are safe.  Read more

 

Update from Ellie re: Herbicide Use in Newton 1 10 2011

Dear friends and neighbors,

Thanks for your interest in the issue of herbicide use on the MBTA.

Since first contacting Mayor Warren, I've learned that not only the MBTA but also several state agencies (highways, railroads, and other rights of way) have been applying herbicides and plan future herbicide use in Newton. 

The Mayor has not responded to the November 12 letter, but he designated Bob Rooney, Chief Operating Officer, to find out more.

At a meeting Mr. Rooney held with MBTA officials and contractors and a few Newton officials, he learned that, although there are state regulations requiring reporting, record keeping and public notification, these regulations have not been followed.  (No official minutes were taken at the meeting.) 

Linda Walsh (Health Department) wrote a response on behalf of the city to the MBTA's hearing announcement expressing an interest in better notification of herbicide use.  Walsh letter

To get a big picture of all the herbicide use by state agencies, I asked for a list of all the 2010 herbicide applications on Newton Rights of Way.  In late December, Bob Rooney said that the City Law Department would obtain information from the various agencies and their contractors but first was giving Linda Walsh time to search records at the Health Department.  I am waiting for that information.

I've posted updates, history and other links and information online at Don't Spray 'em. Outsmart 'em.  http://safefrompesticides.blogspot.com/

Recent posts include a notice of a January 19 hearing regarding HIGHWAYS VEGETATION MANAGEMENT PLAN.

Personal note:

The evidence continues to grow about the role of pollution in preventable chronic conditions and health problems, especially asthma, birth defects, cancer and developmental disabilities.   

Do you know others who agree that protecting our families from preventable and harmful toxic exposures requires our government leaders to enforce environmental, health and safety laws and regulations?  

Please share this information and ask them to contact me to add their names to the list of Newton citizens who think that Newton citizens have a right to know when herbicides are used in our community and that it makes sense to reduce herbicides used by government agencies and other users.

Happy New Year,
Ellie

NStar Use of Herbicides Raises Concerns For Public Health

From: Sue Phelan, GreenCAPE, <suephelan@comcast.net>  In case you are hearing false reports from NSTAR spokesmen that Silent Spring Institute has tested for their herbicides and found nothing (a shameless attempt to twist the truth), please read  the reality according to Silent Spring Institute in the following letter to the editor- Sue Phelan, GreenCAPE, P.O. Box 631, West Barnstable, MA 02668 www.GreenCAPE.org 508.362.5927

***************** 

Laurel Schaider and Cheryl Osimo, Newton: NStar Use of Herbicides Raises Concerns For Public Health by Laurel Schaider and Cheryl Osimo, Silent Spring Institute, Newton  SANDWICH BROADSIDER
http://www.wickedlocal.com/orleans

Posted Dec 15, 2010 @ 06:00 AM Cape Cod —
A recent Sandwich Broadsider article, “Cape environmental groups fight NStar plan,” (Dec. 8) reported that NStar spokesman Michael Durand cited a recent Silent Spring Institute groundwater study. The study did not find herbicides, and this point has been used to support the idea that spraying herbicides in rights-of-way areas will not affect Cape groundwater. We are writing to clarify the scope of our study and explain why it cannot be considered evidence that herbicide use is safe.

In our recent study of 20 public drinking water wells on Cape Cod, we tested for five herbicides, including one, triclopyr, that is among the herbicides proposed for use by NStar. We did not detect any of these herbicides. 

However, these results are of limited relevance to the NStar proposal, because we did not target wells close to sources of herbicides, and we did not include all herbicides proposed by NStar, nor the undisclosed “inert” ingredients in pesticide formulations that also raise health concerns. In addition, public wells are protected from nearby contamination sources by a 400-ft buffer zone, while private wells are less protected and may be more vulnerable to contamination than public wells, and nearby surface water bodies also may be impacted.

The proposed use of herbicides in rights-of-way management on Cape Cod raises concerns about groundwater contamination and exposure to animals and to people who pass through a sprayed area, for example during recreational use. The characteristics of the Cape's aquifer (sandy soils, low organic content) promote relatively fast movement of groundwater and limited breakdown of organic contaminants.

Pesticides continue to be among the chemicals that Silent Spring Institute is testing for in ongoing groundwater and household exposure studies. The active and “inert” ingredients raise multiple health concerns, and alternatives should be evaluated.

Laurel Schaider and Cheryl Osimo

Silent Spring Institute

Newton

Letter to Linda Walsh, Newton Health Department

12 8 2010  Attn:  Linda Walsh, linda_walsh@newton.k12.ma.us  cc: Bob Rooney rrooney@newtonma.gov
Dear Linda,
   Bob Rooney sent me the draft of the letter you are planning to submit to the MBTA.
   I am very grateful that you have taken the time to send comments.
   I hope you will be willing to consider my suggestions for your comments.  Please call me if you would like to discuss them. 
    (Note: I have asked Bob to ask the Mayor for a formal acknowledgment of the original letter and a brief summary of the steps City of Newton officials have taken so far.)
   Your letter focuses on steps to fulfill the requirements regarding notification.  At our meeting last Thursday, I thought we agreed that newspaper notices are not acceptable.  In the past, the local newspaper notice was limited and ineffective. It is even more inadequate today when so many people rely on email and online communication.  
    Clearly the requirements for record keeping and communication to the public need review and updating.  The confusion between Ann Phelps and John McNally about when the spraying takes place is evidence that systems need updating.
    And then, even if the state agencies and the city of Newton did meet the requirements of the current regulations, the public would not be receiving adequate or proper notice of either the spraying or the opportunity to influence official policymaking. 
    Therefore I hope you will ask that the review and comment period for the YOP be extended to give the City of Newton adequate time to notify its citizens, especially the abutters, of opportunities to engage in a legitimate public review of the entire YOP.
    More important, there are no precautions that people can take to protect themselves and their families from exposures to herbicides. In fact, such false assurances misinforms the public about the true nature of pesticides.
    Since learning that City of Newton officials do not have records of the multiple herbicide applications on Rights-of-Ways in Newton, and until such records are public, I hope the Health Department will object to the use of herbicides by state agency contractors. 
    While Bob Rooney has asked the City of Newton Law Department to acquire the herbicide application records, please know that the complete ingredients in the chemical products are trade secrets. They not disclosed even to the EPA. So that public officials nor the public ever has the complete picture of what chemicals are being used and therefore there is no way to truly track or evaluate the true cost to health or the environment.
    As we discussed last Thursday, I look forward to working with you to share information with other Newton officials and citizens.
    Please forward me your final letter so that I can share it with others who are interested in the City’s response to the Letter to Mayor Warren.  Signatures (as of 11/20/2010).
    I have been posting information and resources online. Click here.
Best regards,
Ellie Goldberg 617 965-9637

Letter from Linda Walsh to MA Dept. of Agric Resources

Health and Human Services Department

Linda Walsh, Interim Commissioner

1294 Centre Street

Newton, MA 02459-1544

Telephone 617.796.1420   Fax 617.552.7063   TDD/TTY 617.796.1089

 

December 7, 2010   

Rights-of -Way Program

Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources

Pesticide Bureau

251 Causeway Street, Suite 500

Boston, Massachusetts 02114-2151

Dear Sir,

I am writing to comment on the yearly operational plan to manage vegetation along the railroad’s right of way in compliance with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Rights of Way Management Regulations 333 CMR 11.00. The public notification of herbicide applications is mandated by this regulation to our department by registered mail at least 21 days in advance of treatment.

This notification is extremely important to ensure adequate time for notice to be given to our citizens so that one may take the necessary precautions before, during and after the use of herbicides.   It has been our experience that the notification procedures have not been followed according to the mandated protocol.  This should be addressed with explicit language that would ensure the notification procedures are followed, up to and including canceling the spraying until such notification has occurred.

It is understood that the notification will occur in the local newspaper, which is acceptable, however I would further request that the Commissioner for the Department of Health and Human Services is notified via email and telephone (lwalsh@newtonma.gov, 617-796-1420) concurrent with the public notification to establish the necessary relationship with managers on ground.  This would enable the City to conduct further notifications and assist in the answering of further questions raised by Newton residents.  

This is a matter of great importance in maintaining the public health and safety of all residents. I appreciate your attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

Linda Walsh

Interim Commissioner of Health and Human Services

Attn: Mayor Setti Warren Re: MBTA Herbicide spraying

To: Mayor Setti Warren, Newton CIty Hall

Da: November 12, 2010

From: Signatures (as of 11/20/2010)

1 attachment  Board of Alderman RESOLUTION 1995

_______________

Dear Mayor Warren,

We were inspired by your promise on Newton’s 350 day to make us the greenest city and your commitment to create a "culture of safety" at the recent NNHS Safety Meeting.

We are writing to ask you to take leadership to protect public health and environmental safety by objecting to the MBTA’s plan to spray hazardous herbicides along the tracks in Newton and Boston, Braintree, Brookline, Cambridge, Malden, Medford, Milton, Quincy Revere and Somerville.  

There will be a hearing on November 15 regarding the MBTA’s Vegetation Management Plan (VMP) and a Yearly Operational Plan (YOP).  Written comments are accepted until December 9.

Hearing announcement:
http://www.env.state.ma.us/mepa/mepadocs/2010/102510em/pn/5.pdf

2010 Massachusetts Bay Transporaton Authoirty Rapid Transit Lines Yearly Operational Plan 
http://www.mass.gov/agr/pesticides/rightofway/yop/MBTA-2010-YOP.pdf

MBTA Vegetation Management Plan 2011 - 2015 http://www.mass.gov/agr/pesticides/rightofway/vmp/MBTA-VMP-2011-2015.pdf

In 1994, several Newton residents organized the Committee for Alternatives to Pesticides (GreenCAP) after Dr. Rita Arditti's presentation about cancer as an environmental disease and state statistics named Newton as one of the towns with the highest rate of cancer.  Our goal was to educate the community and the city about alternatives to toxic chemicals for weed and insect control. 

http://greendecade.org/greencap.html

http://greendecade.org/greenCap_pesticides.html

http://greendecade.org/greenCap_primer.html

That year, our main action was to organize community and official objection to the MBTA's herbicide spraying on the tracks and we continued to do so as the MBTA resumed spraying every few years. 

Please read the brief history below and see the attached resolution by the Newton Board of Alderman.

Today, our objections are stronger than ever.  All pesticides are poison.  Pesticides can be inhaled, absorbed through the skin or swallowed, not only in treated areas but down wind and down stream. 

Moreover, toxic chemicals are unnecessary. Alternative non-chemical weed control methods such as planting low maintenance vegetation and mechanical cutting are known to be both effective and economical.

This time, the primary chemical product is Razor^® Pro Herbicide, (Active ingredient is 41% Glyphosate Isopropylamine Salt.)

According to Razor® Pro's marketing information, it is “Ideal for use in post-emergent weed control in industrial sites as well as forestry, turf, vegetation management, and ornamental areas. Razor Pro controls most annual and perennial weeds and is highly effective on woody brush and plants. This surfactant-loaded liquid formulation is rainfast within two hours of application and eliminates the need for additional surfactant.  Note: This herbicide cannot be sold in MA, VT, WA, CA.  

Manufacturer's Material Safety Data Sheet  http://www.afpmb.org/pubs/standardlists/msds/6840-01-108-9578_msds_razorpro.pdf

Most alarming, the MA Department of Agricultural Resources’ fact sheet defending the primary herbicide ingredient, glyphosate, is based on the same misleading and out-of-date references from the 1970s and 1980s that we first objected to over fifteen years ago when we were objecting to the use of the glyphosate-based product, RoundUp Pro.   

http://www.mass.gov/agr/pesticides/rightofway/docs/Glyphosate2005.pdf

Another proposed herbicide is Oust Extra.  Health hazards of Oust Extra, Fact Sheet, Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides: http://www.pesticide.org/get-the-facts/pesticide-factsheets/factsheets/sulfometuron See additional information below.

We ask you to submit written comments urging the MBTA to revise its plan to spray and reach out to other state and local leaders to join you.  We also ask that the City of Newton departments that receive the state notifications, the Health Department, Conservation Commission and Board of Aldermen (identified 11/17)  share that information with Newton citizens, especially with the abutters of the MBTA tracks and other Rights of Way herbicide users (i.e., the Turnpike, Highways, Commuter Rail, etc. added 11/17) so they can participate in the hearings and take advantage of options for public comment.

We are eager to meet with you to answer questions and provide additional background.

• Brief History-MBTA plans Herbicide Application in Newton-DEJA VU
• Green Decade Letter to Mayor Warren, November 2010

Yours truly,

Ellie Goldberg, 79 Elmore Street, Newton Center, MA 617-965-9637

and others

Green Decade Letter to Mayor Warren, November 2010

From Marcia Cooper, President, Green Decade/Newton

Dear Mayor Warren,

Green Decade appreciates the attention you have given to the importance of public safety in Newton. We have a concern on this topic, since becoming informed of the MBTA’s plan to spray hazardous herbicides along the tracks in Newton and Boston, Braintree, Brookline, Cambridge, Malden, Medford, Milton, Quincy, Revere and Somerville. Pesticides that are harmful to our health and the environment ought not to be used in our community.

There will be hearings November 15, 2010 regarding the MBTA’s Vegetation Management Plan (VMP) and a Yearly Operational Plan (YOP). Written comments will be accepted until December 9, 2010.

http://www.env.state.ma.us/mepa/mepadocs/2010/102510em/pn/5.pdf

Green Decade supports the use of alternative non-chemical weed control methods, such as planting low maintenance vegetation and mechanical cutting that are proven to be both effective and economical.

With public safety as a high priority, we ask that you submit written comments urging the MBTA to revise its plan to spray along the MBTA tracks in Newton.

Thank you for your thoughtful consideration of our request.

Sincerely,

Marcia Cooper

President, Green Decade/Newton

City of Newton Board of Alderman MBTA Herbicide RESOLUTION 1995

City of Newton

In Board of Alderman

RESOLUTION

August 14, 1995

Whereas,

the MBTA postponed its scheduled herbicide spraying of the Riverside Line in Newton and held a Public Information Meeting on August 7, 1995, as requested by the Board of Aldermen unanimously by Resolution on July 10, 1995 (#280-95); and

Whereas,

that meeting was attended by Aldermen Lipsitt, Mansfield and Parker, State Representatives Cohen and Khan, members of the Green Decade Coalition and GreenCAP, and about 30 abutters to the Riverside Line; and

Whereas,

although MBTA officials presented information to demonstrate that they use an approved product and their methods of application limit the extent of the spraying, testimony was given by GreenCap members that some of the components of the herbicide are untested and their effects unproven, and by abutters that MBTA procedure had resulted in significant over spray as recently as 1994; and

Whereas,

MBTA also described alternative methods of vegetation control, including limited burning, mechanical cutting, and reduced concentrations of chemicals, but rejected these alternatives for the Riverside Line; and

Whereas,

most attendees at the meeting requested that some or all of the Riverside Line in . Newton be designated a 'no-spray zone,: with only one person speaking in favor of ' the spraying; and

Whereas,

the MBTA officials could not indicate where 'no-spray', 'limited-spray' or "no-spray' zones were planned to be, nor would they guarantee any abutter that a requested 'no-spray“ zone would be honored; and

Whereas,

the MBTA has rescheduled the herbicide spraying for the week of August 21, 1995;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED

that the Newton Board of Aldermen formally request MBTA Interim General Manager Robert L. Mabardy to cancel the planned 1995 herbicide spraying of the Riverside Branch of the Green Line, and to take part in a joint task force to explore and recommend alternatives to current MBTA chemical vegetation control methods, and to seek improved methods of communication with the public regarding these activities.

Resolution Submitted By:
Ald. Mansfield, Parker and Lipsitt
Request for APPROVAL under Suspension of Rules
by UNANIMOUS Vote
Attest: Edward G. English, City Clerk