Protecting Children from Pests and  Pesticides at School. 
Bring the Benefits of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) to Your School! 

 
Does your child go to school in Newton? Become an IPM Ambassador:

• Learn about the principles of pollution prevention and sustainable practices that benefit everyone.

•  Teach the use of brain power and team work instead of toxic chemicals to prevent and control pests such as head lice, mice and cockroaches. 

• Teach others to spot conditions that invite pests and allow them to thrive such as open dumpsters, leaky faucets, clutter and wet trash.

• Encourage collaboration and responsibility among all building users in adopting the good hygiene, sanitation and maintenance practices that keep the school clean and in good repair.

View Massachusetts Children and Families Protection Act - 333 CMR 14.00 [PDF]
The purpose of 333 CMR 14.00 is to promote the implementation of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Techniques and to establish those standards, requirements and procedures necessary to minimize the risk of unreasonable adverse effects on human health and the environment regarding the use of pesticides within a school, daycare center or school age child care program facility. The Children and Families Protection Act went into effect on November 1, 2000. 

Mass.gov School IPM
Find your school's IPM plan.

Ask:

Is the plan up to date? Is it complete? Is it readable?

Does your plan's development and annual evaluation include parents?

Does the school educate and train staff and students?

Does the school implement the plan and inform you about it?

Are posters about the Pest Management Plan posted in classrooms and other high visibility areas?

Do you know how to report conditions that attract or harbor pests? Who is responsible for correcting conditions?

Do you know where reports and service records are kept? Are they accurate? reliable? 

Does the plan create clean, dry, uncluttered, well-managed healthy conditions that keep your children safe from pests and pesticides?

Learn about Piperonyl Butoxide (PBO)
...because it is an ingredient in many of the products in the vegetation management plans by MBTA, DCR, CSX and DOT on Greenline tracks, parkways, railroad and turnpike and products sold for landscaping and mosquito control.

Roundup-Pro or Razor-Pro, alone or in combination with Arsenal, Escort XP, Oust Extra or Oust XP.  (MGL c. 132B sec. 6B)

Beyond Pesticides Rating: Toxic

Piperonyl butoxide, or PBO as it is most often called, is a pesticide synergist. A synergist is another chemical that is added to a pesticide product, in addition to the active and inert ingredients, to increase the potency of the active ingredient. While the increased potency make the pesticides more deadly to their targets, synergists may also compromise the detoxifying mechanisms of non-target species, including humans. A typical pesticide product contains 5-20 times more synergist than active ingredient. Many products from repellants and pediculicides (lice killers) to foggers and garden sprays contain synergists. Formulations of permethrin, resmethrin and sumithrin, including ScourgeTM and AnvilTM, used along the for mosquito control to combat the West Nile Virus, commonly contain the synergist PBO. Prethroids, pyrethrins, rotenone and carbamates are the pesticides most often formulated in combination with PBO (Gosselin et al., 1984). 

Health Effects

PBO affects humans by inhibiting important liver enzymes responsible for breakdown of some toxins, including the active ingredients of pesticides. Specifically, it has been shown to inhibit hepatic microsomal oxidase enzymes in laboratory rodents and interfere in humans. Because these enzymes act to detoxify many drugs and other chemicals, a heavy exposure to an insecticidal synergist may make a person temporarily vulnerable to a variety of toxic insults that would normally be easily tolerated (Gosselin et al., 1984). In addition to the symptoms induced by the active ingredients, signs of PBO poisoning include anorexia, vomiting, diarrhea, intestinal inflammation, pulmonary hemorrhage and perhaps mild central nervous system depression. Repeated contact may cause slight skin irritation. Chronic toxicity studies have shown increased liver weights, even at the lowest doses, 30 mg/kg/day. Animal studies have shown hepatocellular carcinomas, even treatments as low as 1.2% (Takahashi et al., 1994). EPA considers PBO to be a class C possible human carcinogen.

PBO in the Environment
PBO is moderately toxic to most amphibians, crustaceans, fish and other aquatic organisms. However, study published by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service found piperonyl butoxide to be very highly toxic to bluegills and aquatic sowbugs (Johnson, 1980). Very little is known about the persistence of PBO in the environment.

References:
Gosselin, R.E. 1984. Clinical Toxicology of Commercial Products. Williams and Wilkins. Baltimore, MD.
Johnson,W.W. and M.T.Finley Handbook of Acute Toxicity of Chemicals to Fish and Aquatic Invertebrates, Resource Publication 137, Fish Wildlife Service, U.S.D.I., Washington, D.C. 1980
Takahashi, O., et al., 1994. “Chronic toxicity studies of piperonyl butoxide in F344 rats: induction of hepatocellular carcinoma.” Fund. Appl. Toxicol. 22:293-303.

The sneaky business of pesticides

Pesticides to be stripped from Clean Water Act - Call your Senator!
Last week we alerted readers to behind-the-scenes lobbying in Congress that would strip pesticide protections from our nation's stongest environmental laws. On Tuesday, June 21st, the Senate Agriculture Committee quietly approved legislation to exempt pesticide applications from permitting requirements under the Clean Water Act — with no notice, and no press.

The bill, Reducing Regulatory Burdens Act of 2011 (H.R. 872) would reverse a 2009 court order requiring the permits as a part of the National Pollutant Discharge System (NPDES). Instead, pesticides would remain subject only to the much weaker statute under which most pesticides are regulated, the Federal Insecticide Fungicide Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). H.R. 872 has already passed in the House of Representatives.
Read more »

Stop the pesticide industry from stripping protections from our laws

http://panna.org/issues/related-actions/stop-pesticide-industry-its-tracks 

Right now, behind closed doors in DC, pesticide industry lobbyists are maneuvering to strip critical pesticide protections from federal law. And they think nobody’s watching. Please join us in telling Congress that quietly exempting pesticides from our nation’s strongest environmental laws is unacceptable.

We cannot let the pesticide lobby get away with their maneuverings to exempt pesticides from the Clean Water Act. The Endangered Species Act may be next.

Your action today will be a part of something bigger – a national groundswell of support for stronger protections based on better, independent science. PAN, the Center for Biological Diversity and 130+ allied groups have sent a letter to EPA letting them know that we want more — not less — protection from pesticides. The citizen groups on this letter (PDF) represent millions of members from across the country. 

Take action: http://action.panna.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=7083

Read more: 

• California farmers, ecologists square off over drinking water pollution
• Sport fish contaminated along California's urban coastline
• Pesticides in well water linked to Parkinson's disease

• Pesticide spraying near streams to expand under Congressional bill

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).

Information on Herbicide Application Plans

Department of Agricultural Resources, Rights of Way Vegetation Management Plans

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

The following conduct herbicide applications 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

2010 Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation Division of Urban Parks DCR Herbicide Plan for Newton

• Newton Hammond Pond Reservation
• Saw Mill Brook Reservation
• Quinobequin Road
• Hammond Pond Pkwy

A Small Dose of Pesticides

Learn about the hazards of pesticides. 

Most people are not aware of the thousands of pesticides and their formulations that are in use today, some of them in huge volumes and on huge acreages worldwide -- acaricides, algicides, antifoulants, avicides, bactericides, herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, molluscicides, nematicides, piscicides, rodenticides, virucides, and the related plant and insect growth regulators; chemosterilants; bird, mammal and insect repellents, insect pheromones and other attractants. Product formulations may contain more than one active ingredient, as well as synergists, “safeners”, and other ingredients formerly so-called “inerts”.

Watch An Introduction to the Health Effects of Pesticides
PowerPoint Presentation (also available in Acrobat format)

Watch “Humanity Disrupted.”  This series of eight short videos explain how endocrine disruptors disrupt your life even in infinitesimal quantities.

What is an endocrine disruptor?
What do they do to my body?
How do I come into contact with them?
How to prevent this problem?

Videos: http://www.youtube.com/user/endocrinedisruptor#g/u

See: TEDX (The Endocrine Disruption Exchange, Inc.), the only organization that focuses primarily on the human health and environmental problems caused by low-dose and/or ambient exposure to chemicals that interfere with development and function, called endocrine disruptors. http://www.endocrinedisruption.com/home.php

It was founded by Dr. Theo Colborn, co-author of Our Stolen Future, a book that examines the ways that synthetic chemicals interfere with hormonal messages involved in the control of growth and development, especially in the fetus.

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

 

The Problem of Pesticides: They Get Into Places They Don't Belong 

Rachel Carson warned us of the dangers of pesticides in Silent Spring. And it took years for poisons like DDT to be outlawed.

However, we’re still dumping millions of pounds of pesticides on farms every year. Although the actual usage seems to have leveled off, according to EPA data available through 2001, more than 675 million pounds of the stuff was used in the agriculture industry....More

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

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