Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, Oakland City Council Member Dan Kalb, and Oakland City Council Member Annie Campbell-Washington are going to poison you, your family, your dogs, and wildlife.
Under a plan promoted by Kalb and Schaaf, and voted for by Campbell-Washington and the other City Council Members, the City of Oakland and its partners will spread and spray cancer-causing herbicides after deforesting, along with the EBRPD and U.C. Berkeley, 2,059 acres of public land. These herbicides include Monsanto’s Glyphosate, associated with an increased risk of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma; Imazapyr , which increases risk of adrenal, brain, and thyroid cancer; and Dow Chemical’s Triclopyr, linked to breast cancer and genetic damage called dominant lethal mutations. FEMA, the federal agency funding this plan, admits that it will have an “unavoidable adverse impacts” on “human health and safety” and that there will be “potential adverse health effects of herbicides on vegetation management workers, nearby residents, and users of parks and open space.”
Animals and humans residing either within or abutting targeted areas, as well as the legions of East Bay residents who visit the 11 East Bay Regional Parks, will face repeated and ongoing exposure to carcinogenic chemicals which will be applied to hundreds of thousands of tree stumps and sprayed on the grasses and brush which will inevitably grow in these areas after the trees are cut down. Some of the herbicides are known to be toxic to wildlife and aquatic species, can persist in the soil for more than a year after application and are notorious for contaminating local water ways. Targeted areas will continue to be treated with herbicides twice a year, every year for a decade and perhaps longer.
In 11 East Bay parks, including Tilden, Wildcat Canyon, Redwood, Sibley, Huckleberry, Lake Chabot, and Miller-Knox Shoreline among others, these chemicals will be applied in and near hiking trails where people walk and run and visit with their children and dogs. In fact, not only is Triclopyr toxic to humans and wildlife, but it causes damage to the kidney, blood and liver of dogs. Herbicide drift, for which Glyphosate in particular is infamous, will inevitably result in chemicals spreading far beyond their original point of application, especially given that much of the herbicide application is to be done along the ridge tops of the Oakland and Berkeley hills where strong winds, storm run-off and numerous creeks which run down the hillsides past and even through private property will deliver these chemicals to residents’ doorsteps.
Another area targeted for clear cutting and chemical spraying are the 53 acres of forests on the eastern slopes above Caldecott Field at the North Oakland Regional Sports Center. Not only are there numerous neighborhoods abutting these fields, but because herbicide application is scheduled to begin as we enter the rainy season, storm runoff from thousands and thousands of chemically treated tree stumps will cause the chemicals to wash down the steep hillside where they will contaminate the fields below, fields where families congregate for soccer and baseball games throughout the year.
According to FEMA, "the associated environment that could be affected, such as receiving waters immediately downgradient from the proposed and connected project areas, as well as land immediately downwind of the chemical application areas. Soil, air, surface water, groundwater, sediments, and biota potentially containing hazardous substances, including herbicides or herbicide formulation constituents, are considered to be potential exposure media in the affected environment through which exposure to hazardous substances could occur, such as spray drift, drainage, or consumption of non-target plants or prey animals that have accumulated herbicides in their tissue. Many of the proposed and connected project areas are adjacent to developed areas whose occupants interact with and use the resources in the project areas. Therefore, the affected environment also includes the occupants of areas adjacent to the project areas, including residents, workers, and people who travel through the affected area.”
FEMA especially identifies children in local schools at risk: “because residential neighborhoods are adjacent to the parks and open space, residents could also be exposed to herbicides directly during application and indirectly after application. Because a university, a high school, three elementary schools, and a preschool are also close to project areas, students of all ages have the potential to be exposed.”
In fact, one of the herbicides to be used is especially dangerous to children. According to the Journal of Pesticide Reform,
"The most significant health hazard identified for TCP [a byproduct of Triclopyr] is that it may be especially hazardous to children. Recently (1999), EPA researchers studied the ability of TCP to disrupt the development and maturation of the nervous system that occurs in fetuses, infants, and children. Using a laboratory test system (a cell culture), the researchers showed that exposure to TCP inhibits neurons (nervous system cells) from undergoing normal growth. Concentrations of only 0.2 ppm were sufficient to disrupt growth."
Under a plan promoted by Kalb and Schaaf, and voted for by Campbell-Washington and the other City Council Members, the City of Oakland and its partners will spread and spray cancer-causing herbicides after deforesting, along with the EBRPD and U.C. Berkeley, 2,059 acres of public land. These herbicides include Monsanto’s Glyphosate, associated with an increased risk of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma; Imazapyr , which increases risk of adrenal, brain, and thyroid cancer; and Dow Chemical’s Triclopyr, linked to breast cancer and genetic damage called dominant lethal mutations. FEMA, the federal agency funding this plan, admits that it will have an “unavoidable adverse impacts” on “human health and safety” and that there will be “potential adverse health effects of herbicides on vegetation management workers, nearby residents, and users of parks and open space.”
Animals and humans residing either within or abutting targeted areas, as well as the legions of East Bay residents who visit the 11 East Bay Regional Parks, will face repeated and ongoing exposure to carcinogenic chemicals which will be applied to hundreds of thousands of tree stumps and sprayed on the grasses and brush which will inevitably grow in these areas after the trees are cut down. Some of the herbicides are known to be toxic to wildlife and aquatic species, can persist in the soil for more than a year after application and are notorious for contaminating local water ways. Targeted areas will continue to be treated with herbicides twice a year, every year for a decade and perhaps longer.
In 11 East Bay parks, including Tilden, Wildcat Canyon, Redwood, Sibley, Huckleberry, Lake Chabot, and Miller-Knox Shoreline among others, these chemicals will be applied in and near hiking trails where people walk and run and visit with their children and dogs. In fact, not only is Triclopyr toxic to humans and wildlife, but it causes damage to the kidney, blood and liver of dogs. Herbicide drift, for which Glyphosate in particular is infamous, will inevitably result in chemicals spreading far beyond their original point of application, especially given that much of the herbicide application is to be done along the ridge tops of the Oakland and Berkeley hills where strong winds, storm run-off and numerous creeks which run down the hillsides past and even through private property will deliver these chemicals to residents’ doorsteps.
Another area targeted for clear cutting and chemical spraying are the 53 acres of forests on the eastern slopes above Caldecott Field at the North Oakland Regional Sports Center. Not only are there numerous neighborhoods abutting these fields, but because herbicide application is scheduled to begin as we enter the rainy season, storm runoff from thousands and thousands of chemically treated tree stumps will cause the chemicals to wash down the steep hillside where they will contaminate the fields below, fields where families congregate for soccer and baseball games throughout the year.
According to FEMA, "the associated environment that could be affected, such as receiving waters immediately downgradient from the proposed and connected project areas, as well as land immediately downwind of the chemical application areas. Soil, air, surface water, groundwater, sediments, and biota potentially containing hazardous substances, including herbicides or herbicide formulation constituents, are considered to be potential exposure media in the affected environment through which exposure to hazardous substances could occur, such as spray drift, drainage, or consumption of non-target plants or prey animals that have accumulated herbicides in their tissue. Many of the proposed and connected project areas are adjacent to developed areas whose occupants interact with and use the resources in the project areas. Therefore, the affected environment also includes the occupants of areas adjacent to the project areas, including residents, workers, and people who travel through the affected area.”
FEMA especially identifies children in local schools at risk: “because residential neighborhoods are adjacent to the parks and open space, residents could also be exposed to herbicides directly during application and indirectly after application. Because a university, a high school, three elementary schools, and a preschool are also close to project areas, students of all ages have the potential to be exposed.”
In fact, one of the herbicides to be used is especially dangerous to children. According to the Journal of Pesticide Reform,
"The most significant health hazard identified for TCP [a byproduct of Triclopyr] is that it may be especially hazardous to children. Recently (1999), EPA researchers studied the ability of TCP to disrupt the development and maturation of the nervous system that occurs in fetuses, infants, and children. Using a laboratory test system (a cell culture), the researchers showed that exposure to TCP inhibits neurons (nervous system cells) from undergoing normal growth. Concentrations of only 0.2 ppm were sufficient to disrupt growth."
- To see the FEMA EIS which states that the EBRPD will use 2,250 gallons of carcinogenic herbicides, click here.
- To read a Harper's article regarding the financial link between Monsanto and "conservationists" like those who support this project, click here.
- Read our statement in opposition by clicking here.
- Read our letter to local schools by clicking here.
- Read our rebuttal to the the misinformation by proponents by clicking here.
- Read FEMA's language for clearcutting in the Oakland and Berkeley hills by clicking here.
- Find out how the plan will impact areas in and near the Montclair District by clicking here.
- Click here for what you can do.