www.montereycountyweekly.com November 9-15, 2023 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY 15 Local pesticide reform advocates are ramping up pressure on regulators over what they deem “environmentally racist” policies that leave Monterey County’s agricultural communities at risk of health hazards. Safe Ag Safe Schools, a local group that’s part of the statewide coalition Californians for Pesticide Reform, has criticized the California Department of Pesticide Regulation’s draft strategic plan for 2024-2028—a set of regulations guiding the agency’s oversight of pesticide use over the five-year period. At a public hearing in Watsonville on Oct. 30 and in a subsequent letter to DPR Director Julie Henderson, Safe Ag Safe Schools attacked the agency’s stated targets of formally mitigating as few as two “priority pesticides” per year in the form of 5-percent annual reductions in their use. The group criticized those goals as inadequate. “It’s a plan to make sure our communities continue to get poisoned and permanently damaged not just for the next five years, but far into the future,” Safe Ag Safe Schools’ Future Leaders of Change group—composed of local, predominantly Latino high school students—wrote in its letter. The advocacy group has also escalated a letter-writing campaign to Monterey County Agricultural Commissioner Juan Hidalgo expressing concerns over the local use of chemicals like Dacthal, Telone and organophosphates, which they cite as particularly harmful to children. In an Oct. 24 letter to Hidalgo, Safe Ag Safe Schools pointed to data indicating that in 2021, one-fourth of all organophosphate pesticides in California, by weight, were applied in Monterey County. The group wants him to impose measures like requiring public notices of intent for the use of all organophosphates, as well as buffers around all residences, schools and hospitals. Safe Ag Safe Schools organizer (and Greenfield City Councilmember) Yanely Martinez says they have met with the recently appointed commissioner and he has thus far proven more open and receptive to their input than his predecessor, Henry Gonzales. Hidalgo says while he understands activists’ concerns, the state’s guidelines are a science-based process that must also consider impact on California growers. He also cited progress in restrictions around the use of chemicals like Telone, or 1,3-D—noting stricter rules requiring deeper soil injections and impermeable plastic film covers over fields where the pesticide has been applied. In a statement, a DPR spokesperson says the agency “regularly engages with advocacy, environmental justice and community groups. We appreciate the feedback we received; it will inform our five-year strategic plan and immediate priorities.” Still, Safe Ag Safe Schools believes DPR’s rules around the use of pesticides like Telone remain too lenient. “This is an environmentally racist policy,” Martinez says of allowed levels of pesticide use around schools serving mostly Latino students. “That’s something they don’t want to hear, but they have to hear it.” Toxic Debate Local advocates push state and local regulators harder on pesticide restrictions. By Rey Mashayekhi Pesticides are applied as a routine practice in Salinas Valley agriculture. The California Department of Pesticide Regulation’s five-year plan targets 5-percent reductions in two chemicals. NEWS “Our communities continue to get poisoned.” DANIEL DREIFUSS
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