We are excited to report that MOMAS has joined with a coalition of cities, and health and environmental organizations to file a lawsuit challenging the California Department of Agriculture’s (CDFA’s) light brown apple moth spray program. This lawsuit is a culmination of nearly three years of public outcry over state-sponsored pesticide spraying for a moth experts say has been here for decades without causing crop damage.  We are proud to be represented by the highly respected lawfirms of EarthJustice and Cooley.

Our litigation is critical to prevent future unsafe & unjustified pesticide spray campaigns in California.

The apple moth is just one of many exotic insects yet to be addressed by the state of California.  How we as the public address this issue today will set a precedent for ALL future insect spray programs directed by the state.

MOMAS’ goal is to inspire policy changes that will end the apple moth program, and place science and health as the guiding principles for future insect spray programs directed by the state.

Can you help us to change the future?

Please donate today and help MOMAS raise $2,000 to cover our litigation costs.
 
In addition to participating in this important litigation, our steering committee continues to work closely with our elected officials, as well as leading scientists and medical experts. We are dedicated to creating change that ensures the protection of our children’s health.

Thank you for your participation and commitment.
 
Debbie Friedman
Chair, MOMAS

 

 If you would like to print and sign a Petition to send to the USDA asking them to end the LBAM program, click here.   

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They Were Wrong Then

And They Are Wrong Now

End the moth eradication eradication program.

From September through November 2007, the State repeatedly sprayed pesticides from airplanes on Monterey and Santa Cruz Counties. Hundreds
of people became ill; pets and seabirds died. They tried to spray the Bay Area, but together, we stopped them. Yet, they never ended their spray program.

They’re back and It’s not over.

The government is planning to continue its chemical campaign against the Light Brown Apple Moth in our neighborhoods, hiking trails and back-yards. The moth has caused no crop damage in California – but the program to exterminate it is costing us tens of millions of dollars per year – $100 million spent already. Join MOMAS, physicians, scientists, local businesses and farmers to take action to end the moth eradication program. Tell our government officials to protect our health, the health of our children, and our community.

TAKE ACTION TODAY• Sign up for MOMAS updates. Send email to: mothersofmarin@yahoo.com
• Call/write/email key officials.  Print out this letter to Secretary Vilsak and send it in!
• Donate to MOMAS For more information click here

Educational Community Forum:

How Do We Protect Ourselves and

Our Families?

Expert panelists share the latest science and information that affects us all.

October 28th 6:00 PM-9:00 PM

Fireman’s Fund Insurance Co.
777 San Marin Dr.
Novato, CA

Hon. Jared Huffman—Assembly Member, 6th District

Tracey Woodruff, PhD, MPH—Associate  Professor & Director, UCSF Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment

Michelle Perro, MD, D. Homeopathy—Founder of Down to Earth Pediatrics, former Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at UCSF

Bruce Blumberg, PhD—Institute for Genomics and Bioinformatics, UC, IrvineSharyle Patton—Director of Collaborative on Health and the Environment (CHE)  Biomonitoring Project

A $5 donation is requested.  Refreshments supplied by Sustainable Novato.
For more info or to RSVP call (415) 892-4655, or e-mail info@sustainablenovato.org

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Marin County acknowledges it

violated its own pesticide rules

Mark Prado

Posted: 06/05/2009 06:57:12 PM PDT

Marin County officials acknowledged Friday they erred in allowing thousands of gallons of potentially cancer-causing pesticides to be sprayed in parks and other public recreation areas in violation of county policy.” It was an unfortunate oversight on my part,” said Fred Crowder, the county’s deputy agricultural commissioner, who helps oversee Marin County’s integrated pest management program.

This week Corte Madera resident Paul Apffel compiled a report he delivered to the Board of Supervisors indicating the county violated its spray law more than 90 times in the past 10 years by using pesticides that are possible human carcinogens. Stafford Lake in Novato, McInnis Park in San Rafael, McNears Beach in San Rafael, Paradise Beach Park in Tiburon and the county Civic Center are some of the areas where the county sprayed pesticides in violation of its policy, Apffel said. “The law is clear: if a pesticide is classified by the U.S. EPA as a carcinogen or possible carcinogen, it can’t be sprayed,” he said. It is Crowder’s job to advise the county’s Department of Parks and Open Space and other county departments on pesticide use. He said he mistakenly relied on the California Proposition 65 list, which is much more narrow than the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s list.

While admitting the error, Crowder noted the pesticides used are “also available at the local garden store and there is nothing there that is not available to the public. “We appreciate the public engaging in this issue and bringing it to our attention,” Crowder said, acknowledging the use of some pesticides was in violation of county law. The county law, passed in 1998, specifies that no county department shall use “any ingredient classified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as a human carcinogen, probable human carcinogen, possible human carcinogen, reproductive toxin or developmental toxin. “But through the end of 2007, those types of pesticides were used at least 92 times, often to suppress weeds, according to Apffel’s report.

 In 2005, 2,758 gallons were sprayed; in 2006, 4,159 gallons were sprayed and in 2007, 2,677 gallons were sprayed, although Crowder said those numbers are high. Previous years’ totals were not available.” It shouldn’t have been done and the citizens of Marin are entitled to a public hearing on this,” Apffel said. “It can’t be swept under the rug. It was the citizens who were wronged.”

One group called for an investigation. “The allegations are serious enough to warrant an investigation by the Board of Supervisors,” said Debbie Friedman of Mill Valley, head of Mothers of Marin against the Spray. “Many of us do have children with severe allergies, eczema and other health implications.” Crowder noted the county is in the process of re-writing pesticide laws and it would provide an opportunity to strengthen its policy. “It will be much more clear and much more direct than the current pest management laws,” he said. But Apffel said the current law is structured in a way in which the spraying should have been reported. “This did not happen because the existing ordinance is vague,” he said.

On Friday, the 11-member Marin County Integrated Pest Management Commission took up the issue of a new pesticide management plan with hopes of sending it to the Board of Supervisors Tuesday for a first reading. But by the end of the three-hour meeting there was enough doubt on wording of the new law for the commission to vote it down. Now it will go through another revision. One sticking point is the creation of goals to further reduce pesticide use in the county. The ordinance presented Friday lacked that language. Others want the county to impose “no-pesticide zones,” including 300-foot buffer zones in places where children play including playgrounds, bicycle and multi-use paths and playing fields. “We should have buffers for public trails, walkways, wetlands and things of that nature,” said Roger Roberts, vice president of the Marin Conservation League.

Contact Mark Prado via e-mail at mprado@marinij.com

Contact Information for Local Representatives:

Contact information for the Marin County Board of Supervisors:

 Supervisor Charles McGlashan, 415-499-7331, CMcGlashan@co.marin.ca.us 

Supervisor Susan Adams, 415-499-7331, sadams@co.marin.ca.us 

Supervisor Hal Brown, Jr., 415-499-7331, hbrown@co.marin.ca.us 

Supervisor Judy Arnold, 415-499-7331, jarnold@co.marin.ca.us 

Supervisor Steve Kinsey, 415-499-7331, skinsey@co.marin.ca.us  

Contact information for state elected officials:

  Senator Migden, 415-479-6612, senator.migden@senate.gov 

Assemblyman Huffman, 415-479-6612, assemblymember.Huffman@assembly.ca.gov

 Assemblyman Leno, 415-557-3013, assemblymember.Leno@assembly.ca.gov 

Contact information for members of the Senate Environmental Quality Committee:

  Senator Joe Simitian (Chair), 916-651-4011, Fax: 916-323-4529 

Senator George Runner (Vice-Chair), 916-651-4017, Fax: 916-443-4662

 Senator Samuel Aanestad, 916-651-4004, Fax: 916-445-7750 

Senator Ellen Corbett, 916-651-4023, Fax: 916-324-4823 

Senator Dean Florez, 916-651-4016, Fax: 916-327-5989

 Senator Shelia Kuehl, 916-651-4023, Fax: 916-324-4823

 Senator Alan Lowenthal, 916-651-4027, Fax: 916-327-911