Staff Writer
September 20, 2004
Responding to growing public concern over the use of
pesticides and other toxins to fight weeds and pests, government leaders are
starting to take action.
Town officials said they want to create a policy to curb pesticide use on town
land and the state attorney is joining a multistate suit to force a reduction in
pesticide use in public housing.
But while those actions are laudable, supporters of stricter pesticide
regulations said, they aren't enough to reduce the overall popularity of
pesticides and other chemicals to which many private landowners have easy
access.
"It's much harder to regulate private homes," said Nancy Alderman,
president of New Haven-based Environment and Human Health Inc.
Recently, Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal joined attorneys
general in five other states in suing the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban
Development, saying the federal agency isn't doing enough to make local housing
authorities rein in pesticide use.
"We've warned the federal government previously that we would take action
if they didn't take action," Blumenthal said.
The lawsuit cites the 1996 Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act,
which requires federal agencies such as HUD, which funds public housing
complexes, to use and promote what is called Integrated Pest Management, a
technique that uses chemicals and other toxins only as a last resort.
"Most of the housing officials whom we questioned in Connecticut had never
even heard of Integrated Pest Management," Blumenthal said. "They used
exterminators and pesticides."
Terry Mardula, deputy director of the Greenwich Housing Authority, said he
didn't know what IPM (Integrated Pest Management) was but that for extermination
services, the housing authority contracts with Temco, a building maintenance
firm. The firm is called in whenever a resident requests such services and
whenever a tenant leaves a unit and the place needs to be cleaned.
"I would imagine they would use the correct thing," Mardula said.
"They're licensed professionals."
Pete Gasparino of Greenwich, who works for Temco, said workers typically use
traps for rodents and refrain from spraying pesticides. He referred additional
questions to the company's expert on chemicals, who did not return messages
seeking comment.
In terms of lawn care, the Greenwich housing authority has a contract with a
landscaping company for mowing and weeding, which Mardula said didn't include
the spraying of pesticides, herbicides or fertilizers. Any such work would
require a new and separate contract, he said.
A greater awareness of the potential harm pesticides pose, including a risk for
cancer and respiratory problems, prompted officials to wield the act to reduce
toxins in and around public places, Blumenthal said.
"There's much greater awareness and sensitivity about the potential
problems pesticides cause, whether in schools or housing or any place,
particularly where children live and study," Blumenthal said.
While any reduction is viewed as good, advocates of more stringent pesticide
regulations said the impact of a successful lawsuit would be minimal.
"It's just a drop in the bucket," said Dr. Barry Boyd, a Greenwich
oncologist who regularly warns of the danger pesticides pose to human health.
"Our society is taking for granted these pesticides. So we're inundated
with chemicals."
Pesticides and other chemicals used to ward off weeds and pests, such as insects
and rodents, are so readily available in popular department stores, many
customers don't realize the potential harm they cause, he said.
"People are very naive about their toxicity," Boyd said. "They're
poison, they're designed to kill."
Studies have shown that children and pregnant women are more vulnerable to
pesticide exposure, mostly because children have smaller bodies and because,
over time, they may be exposed to toxins for longer, Boyd said.
"The issue is not that children are going to get bladder cancer, it's that
children will build up these compounds," he said. "Over a period of
years, it could lead to a higher risk."
At the same time, Boyd said he took the move toward reducing pesticide use in
public housing as a positive sign.
"Less is better, no matter how you look at it," Boyd said. "While
it's ideal to be in a chemical-free world, I don't think that's going to
happen."
Reduction of pesticide use also is on the minds of town officials who said they
will do their part to reduce their use of such toxins in areas the town owns.
"It is one where we will develop a policy," First Selectman Jim Lash
said.
But the town can only do so much because the larger problem may be the
cumulative effect of many landowners using pesticides and herbicides, he said.
According to the tax assessor's office, Greenwich owns 1,737 acres, or 5.4
percent of the land in town, excluding rights of way.
Earlier this year, the town published a report on water use in Greenwich, which
revealed that water samples taken from some streams in town showed trace levels
of pesticides. The thinking is that rain washed the pesticides from people's
lawn into the streams.
Officials said the levels were so low they weren't alarmed, but the results did
highlight the effect pesticide use has on water resources.
Lash echoed sentiments ex-pressed by other officials who said more public
education is needed to inform property owners about the potential dangers of
pesticides.
"In general, the public has gotten lackadaisical about pesticides and I
think we need to pay attention to how we treat pesticides," Conservation
Director Denise Savageau said.
The town hopes to develop a policy regulating pesticide use by its departments.
The policy would favor less dependence on chemicals and encourage Integrated
Pest Management techniques. At the moment, there is no deadline for such an
effort, but it would likely involve parks, conservation and other department
officials.
One town department that uses herbicides is Public Works. Highway Superinten-dent
Joseph Roberto said workers use chemicals only for spot applications along
roadways, such as for weeds sprouting through cracks on the sidewalks. Although
most of the landscaping work by the roadway involves mowing, workers also have
spray bottles of RoundUp, a popular herbicide, that they use in certain places,
such as underneath a guardrail.
"If you can't mow underneath, that's when we use a little RoundUp,"
Roberto said.
Tree Superintendent Bruce Spaman said he has taken a stab at drafting procedures
for pesticide and other chemical use, based on IPM techniques, such as promoting
hand-weeding and banning the blanket spraying of herbicides and pesticides in
favor of spot treatments for problem plants, such as poison ivy.
Because of concerns raised about the use of chemicals, Spaman said workers are
reserving pesticide and herbicide use for special cases.
"We've pretty much had a moratorium on putting anything down until we have
a clear policy," Spaman said.
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