ojai news at The Ojai Post :: blog, newspaper, events in Ojai, California

A bit late for our area, unless we rally to have manual removal instead of a second dose. I noticed it was already growing back in the stands they removed in Matilija Canyon.
However, I was involved with some manual removal and it is labor intensive. Big time. We used an air knife, use by arborists for tree removal, which was an interesting experiment. Super charged compressed air, amazing dust storm, reveals the rhizome and then you can pull it out. Some of those rhizomes are the size of a Volkswagon Beetle. Huge. Very difficult to manually remove.

It's an interesting plant. Someone told me it grows in Siberia and they use it for many applications. Building, food and when boiled I guess it has DMT in it and they make a mild intoxicant. I ahven't verified that info. though.

I am really thankful that you posted this Millineum.
I drove to the Trailhead located in Matilija canyon 2 days ago and I felt like I was driving in to a war zone. Men walking around with these crazy backpacks on their backs filled with narly chemicals and only a simple dusk mask over their mouth to protect them from the chemicals.....When I moved here I thought this place would be more on it than this! It is disgraceful....

Arundo is an ideal biofuel (8,000 BTU’s/lb) that produces methanol from gas diffusion as a bi-product in manufacturing cellulose. The option to gasify this product is to produce independently a valuable energy product.It is possible to utilize new high efficiency gasification systems to convert Arundo into a multitude of different energy sources, such as syngas, standard steam turbine electrical generation, ethanol and bio-diesel.

Arundo is an ideal biofuel (8,000 BTU’s/lb)

Perhaps, but here's at least one rub: when you create a market for anything, the financial backers and the beneficiaries never seem to want to let that market die a natural death when the time comes.

Stop the poisoning of the Matilija Watershed!

Arundo Donax (a bamboo-like reed) is a native of the Mediterranean region, through the Middle East and India. The Ventura County Watershed Protection District has poisoned the watershed with glyphosate in order to kill off the Arundo, because it is a non-native invasive species.

The term "collateral damage" is used by the county biologist, in referring to negative impacts on "non-targeted" plants, insects, and animals in the area. Are we in a war zone? The most recent data (1998) from California’s Department of Pesticide Regulation finds that glyphosate ranks first among herbicides as the highest causes of pesticide-induced illness or injury to people in California. Glyphosate is tied to acute human health effects and linked to non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

Mati Waiya, a native of Ventura County and a Chumash ceremonial leader, is in support of our efforts to bring about public awareness and to stop Ventura County from poisoning the Matilija watershed. Mati Waiya is also founder and Executive Director of the Wishtoyo Foundation/Ventura Coastkeeper. Since the County is concerned about "non-native" eradication, perhaps the native people of this land, the Chumash should be consulted.

If you in support of stopping the County from poisoning the watershed, please sign the petition. For more info, please send e-mail to: protectmatilija-at-gmail.com

Stop the poisoning of the Matilija Watershed!

We, the undersigned, do hereby petition Ventura County to stop the spraying of herbicide into the Matilija Watershed. We ask that the Ventura County Watershed Protection District protect the watershed. We were not informed about the serious negative health impacts that glyphosate has on humans as well as “non-targeted” animals and plants. We are not in a war zone.

We petition Ventura County to work towards making our county a herbicide/pesticide free zone.

~~

Ms. Pagaling,

Thank you for your email.

Nile Fiber agrees with your assertion that a more
environmentally friendly solution is needed in the
removal of Arundo. California is a leader in
environmental issues and can again provide a major
role leading the country in dealing with this and
other related "true" green solutions.

At Nile Fiber, we would like to see the removal and
disposal of Arundo play a part in helping the
environment instead of the current methods.

Nile Fiber has spent considerable time and resources
in the research and development of Arundo uses for
pulp, paper, and composite board panels that are
superior to other materials i.e. wood, bamboo, kenaf,
etc. We have enlisted 4 U.S. Universities and have
garnered international assistance in these studies.

We have a major roll-out planned for 2008 regarding
these products produced from Arundo.

In addition, two of our executives have embarked on
the utilization of Arundo in the biofuels alternative
energy sector.

We appreciate any opportunity to discuss our endeavors
to find better "green" alternative solutions.

Respectfully,
Nile Fiber

Sounds like somebody's making a good living off of the "studies", I doubt we will ever see anything practical come from it. Why not issue "harvest permits" to individuals so that people who work with their hands and live in the real world can find ways to use the Arundo material for some useful purpose or make bio fuel from it. Entrepeneures are the ones who will ultimatly make a difference. If it worked out to be extremely profitable it could be removed from the river bottom and relocated a farming area.

If it worked out to be extremely profitable it could be removed from the river bottom and relocated a farming area.

I think this is how it wound up becoming a problem here in the first place, isn't it?

I agree, however, that we should not be using Roundup or Rodeo to kill the Arundo. Whereas glyphosphate is not considered to be toxic according to what I've read, the various "inert ingredients" are. Monsanto is allowed to refer to the much more toxic ingredients in their popular plant killers as inert because these ingredients are not classified as herbicides. That is, they are inert insofar as their activity in the stated purpose of the product. They are carriers and preservatives, and they are proprietary in nature and therefore allowed to be classified as secret ingredients, much as the melange of herbs and ground seeds in food products can be legally referred to as nothing more than "spices". (This word trickery is completely legal and common in products ranging from pharmaceuticals to animal food to household cleaning products to makeup.)

At the very, very least, it seems to me to be completely insane to be using anywhere near the Ventura River a product known to be toxic to fish and other aquatic life while we are also trying to re-establish the Steelhead Trout.

Round up, glyphosphate is a very safe product and the inert ingrediants are, well inert and will not cause any harm to fish or people if used properly. I'm sure one can find crap on the internet to the contrary but these are extremists that are against everything.

The plant was not brought here for any economic purpose I think it probably hitch hiked here some how. In any event why not use the plants in the river bottom as bio fuel until they're all gone

The plant was not brought here for any economic purpose I think it probably hitch hiked here some how.

A little Googling found evidence to the contrary.

The following paragraphs are from:
http://www.oboe.org/donax.htm

It is generally known that Arundo donax was brought to California in the 1890's by French immigrants to be used on ranches here as wind breaks. This can be substantiated by the fact that a great amount that I found was growing on small ranches serving this same purpose today.

There is a second theory that an employee of Rico Reed Company which uses some California cane for commercial purposes, in the 1940's planted starters in washes and gullies all over the San Fernando Valley to replenish the European shortage at that time due to the bombing of French cane fields during W.W.II. These were either forgotten or were torn up and replaced by cement aqueducts in the early 1960's.

here is a brown Black Bear which walked up from the RiverBottom in Meiners Oaks two days ago to voice her concern for the poisoned watershed:

http://www.venturacountystar.com/photos/2008/may/07/38597

clearly the solution to environmental and economic degradation of the Ojai Valley is NOT increasing the degradation, poisoning the people, the fish, the frogs, the ladybugs, the shrubs and flowers and trees ... the waterways and soil and backyards ...

and not giving our tax dollars to Monsanto and the corporates when there are no end of people in the Valley who ENJOY working in nature, and DESIRE extra cash, and LOVE our sacred wildlife and chaparral forests.

how do we measure the greening of our valley, compare the desertification of her? this is a subject every child and adult Valley-wide can input ton.

when we reduce and eliminate the use of poisons. when we reduce the expenditures of energy. when we reduce the waste. when we reduce the number and size of the vehicles and traffic. when we reduce the air pollution, and sound pollution. when we BRING BACK waterways, parks, woodlands, wetlands ... and reduce the size and number of parking lots, and asphalt roads.

when we grow gardens in our front and backyards, and have community gardens ... organic, Monsanto-free ... and our dollars stay in the valley ... and our children are cancer- and diabetes- and arthritis- and heart-disease- and otherwise consumer-disease-free.

that is why we have organizations like Ojai Trees 'sprouting' up, and the Green Coalition, and the Bicycle Recyleries, and Organic Farms ....

because love, consciousness, knows itself. knows divine nature, the 'Chumash Harmonies' we have taken for granted, gifts of Goddess Moon ... this 'Awha'y Valley womb ...

An interesting fact. ------ Arundo Donax is the prefered material of bag pipe players around the world to make their reeds from. I have watched a good friend, a bag pipe player, cut down dozens of arundo plants in search of the "perfect piece." Maybe we could bring over a few hundred Scots pipers to remove the arundo.

Seriously though, the idea of using poison to facilitate what is meant to be an environmental restoration project, does seem a bit counter intuitive. (and stupid)

The money could be much better spent on hand removal. Their are people out there who need the money and aren't afraid of hard work.

W D Moore

If there were an economic benifit to removing and using the Arundo then it's removal would progress. You're not going to get workers "who desire extra cash" to do this work. And where is the "extra cash" coming from? Some government grant? paid by me? Make it work on a local level and make it pay for it's self or this is all BS.

in south africa i observed arundo removal without chemicals. the arundo by slowing down the water flow creats its own alluvial soil; a meter or so square is dug down to reveal the rizhome/root system..appearing rube goldberg like..a cable is then wrapped around the roots and using a come along or a winch the arundo is zipped out by its roots. after some initial zipping large underground rizhome networks become exposed and it get easier. the problem with the current contract for matilija cyn is that there is a stipulation that the soil not be disturbed..ostensibly to protect the riparian area..however it is clear that there are hugh areas of arundo only with absolutly no riparian to protect. the folks overseeing the contract should be urged to amend the protocals to include zipping. while the herbacides will still be used far less will be called for..mcg

the only organism that needs to be eradicated is the cancer GenModSanto, AltGene MadSanto.

as to the RedChem and GreenChem now being all over the running waterways of the misnamed Ventura RiverBottom ... and on the homes adjacent -- being pumped into the Lake Casitas Drinking Water reservoir -- causing human cancer deaths -- killing thousands of amphibians, turtles and other animals NOW --

note that the LYING PROPAGANDA the County used to justify their fraudulent and murderous campaign againt the WaterSheds was that there would be NO spraying in the waterways, or on or near the homes, and that ALL spraying would ONLY be after the Cane Grass had been cut back completely, and new green growth come up ... so that ONLY new green growth would be sprayed, being ten times more effective.

their CURRENT CAMPAIGN of wanton spraying not only requires ten times MORE MODSANTO CANCER in the short term, it also means they have to keep coming back FOREVER ... spraying their CANCER every year!

everyone we have spoken with has been shocked to hear what we witnessed in the FLOWING Ventura River last week! not to mention the, now unbreathable, Matilija Canyon!!

people are speaking out ... against the Cancer and Chemical Campaign AGAINST the Ojai Valley People and Her Wildlife and Water and Forests now being waged by the County spraying campaigns on ALL the roads, on the Bicycle Trail, on the Schools and elsewhere ... as well as in Matilija Canyon and the Ventura River (and our Lake Casitas drinking water!)

their Cancer and Chemical Campaign AGAINST this Sacred Valley is also being waged by the Citrus Ranchers in the East End, and the Ojai Valley Inn on its VERY toxic golf course ... so it is reported ... and by Soule Park and businesses and farmers throughout the Valley.

the time is ripe to tackle the whole of the Campaign against the Ojai Valley ... and the currently highly visible campaigns against the Ventura River and Matilija Creek will give us much more inertia and support than is necessary.

to end all the CANCER-SPRAYING on every road in the Valley, on lands leading to EVERY creek, on the Schools, and on the walking and bicycling trails which the mothers and children use every day.

time the Ojai Valley left the mafiaosa County-Cancer calling itself Ventura. time we incorporated ourself as loving and green and sustainable and self-determined ... and, perhaps also, launched a billion dollar class-action lawsuit against Ventura County and the current Board of Supervisors, against EACH individual, for intentional corruption and ecocide and murder.

Monsanto is actually helping feed millions of children world wide, How many people have YOU feed Mr. AntiSanto ?

Anonymous, with all due respect, please do not believe everything you are being forcefed. To say that Monsanto is a saviour to the millions of poverty stricken children worldwide is, to me, on the same level as saying that SC Johnson & Co is doing a great job of helping to save the environment. I know they make a persuasive commercial saying this is so, but come on....

It is actually very proveable.

Fair enough, Anon.

Can you provide back-up for such proof? Most of what I have read (including accounts of those working within the corporation) indicates that such claims are merely P.R. grandstanding gimmicks and tactics aimed at watering down the very real harm they are doing. "Greenwashing" and "Poor-washing" is so pervasive these days, it makes me ill just thinking about the hypocrisy.

But I am open to hearing your side of the argument. I think it's a healthy debate to have.

I'm most definitely a morning person, so until tomorrow morning - good night!

Gangland Monsanto's worldwide ecocide campaign has dramatically REDUCED the global crops, their biodiversity, and the number of farms and farmers. Their only mission has been to replace healthy and local food in people's diets, with petrochemical poisons.

There has never been a shortage of food on the Earth ... only an intended and dramatic surplus of war, including using starvation as a mechanism of war ... the corporate campaign of cultural racism and industrial servitude.

Before modern farming one farmer could only feed 10 people, that has now increased to 50 and greater, with the effect of letting more people do things other than farming ( like wasting their time blogging). With the advent of the synthetically make fertilizers we can now raise more food on less ground, perserving more forest areas. The man made fertilizers are made by pulling nitrogen from the air, the plants don't know the difference because there is no difference.

Nitro man is the mouthpiece for the corporate death machine. his Corporate State only kills the soil (and the farmhands) ... eliminating living farmlands ... and kills the remaining lands where the mining and industry takes place ... and has not created "more forest areas" but rather has eradicated 95 percent of the worlds forests ... an eradication program which is INCREASING every year, including this year.

Thank you, Nitro Death Man, for making clear to every woman and child and man in the Ojai Valley what your intention is!

We clearly understand your same intentions towards our remaining wetlands and watersheds, and wildlife, in the Ojai Valley!

Dirt Farmer is a retro-civlization posie sniffer who hasn't grown food for anyone, let alone himself, or run a business that produces anything of value for his fellow citizens. He rides his bike to his weeding job because he doesn't like to use round up but his farmer employer can't pay him very much because he can't pull the weeds fast enough. To grow more food Dirt Farmer's friends have to chop down our Chaparral to grow enough food to feed the population, since they don't use enough nitrogen in their fertilizer their crops do not produce a good yield , so they need more land still to feed everyone. He doesn't want to hurt the cute ground squirrels so he shares some of the crop with them as well.

Hi everyone! I just moved to Ashland, OR, and I really love it! Folks are much more conscious up here! Crop spraying is against the law here and public nudity is legal. Where in Ojai and Ventura, spraying is legal and law enforced, and pasties are Prohibited (that's how those corrupt cops treated me). I love the Ojai Valley, but the dark force is taking over there. I love you all and I hope that all the Earth Keepers move out of "smog Dodge" and join progressive communities where positive change is the main attraction. Look, either a community cares or they don't. There has been enough research. It is time to move to greener pastures where the community is not divided against itself. How much change can any of you really create if 50% of the community is always voting against you? And the ones in charge of your area are corrupt? I love Mother Earth and I have a deep connection with her. She is my Mother, first and foremost. I never give up, but I do listen to reason and Mother Earth told me to Leave Ojai. If not for you, then for your children's sake. "They", the powers that be, are poisoning your children's wellspring of life for profit. So, mommmy and daddy, what are you doing to change things? Power to the Peaceful. Please check out the EmotoProject.org. Genuinely, Jennifer Moss
EarthFriendJen.

truly Jen, only the PEACE 'becomes' us ...

the humble, deep Earth-rooted, whole global cultural village connected, women-and-children-enabling, indigenous sacred ways learning ...

of loving respect ...

I have read the articles and comments. I totally agree that the spraying of toxic pesticides has got to stop. The City or County even sprays the edge of my property without permission, because it borders on the street. It is beyond belief that in the year 2008 our City/County/State decision makers do not fully comprehend that everything is connected. Every year the County sprays the reservoir area at the top of Canada (as another example), poisoning the soil, the insects, the frogs, the birds...and still the "weeds" grow back... Have they never heard of "Silent Spring?"

I meant to say "the spraying of toxic pesticides and herbicides..."

They are only spraying herbicides to keep the weeds back from the road to prevent fire danger and to keep the road from getting weeds in the cracks which eventually destroys the road and makes it so the have to replace the ashalt more often. They do not spray insecticides except for areas that might have mosquitos but it's pretty dry now so I don't think they are spraying for mosquitos.

as anonymous says, they are spraying to kill.

to kill the plants, the birds, the amphibians, the watershed, the Ojai Valley, all Women and Children AND Men ...

and give money and power to the Fire guilds, Forest guilds, Automotive guilds, Industry guilds, government guilds ...

to spread their cancer, ad mortem ...

No SuperArundoMan, they're just killing the weeds. Like you would kill a cancer, like the one infecting your brain.

#30 - you are not playing with a full deck - no Jokers, hearts or diamonds - just clubs and spades. Not enough for this thread. Game over.

Below is a very disturbing article about ground water being contaminated by glyphosate in Denmark. We must stop the spraying here before it contaminates our drinking water!

Daily News Archive

Denmark Restricts Water-Contaminating Herbicide

(Beyond Pesticides, September 23, 2003)

Denmark placed unprecedented restrictions on the herbicide glyphosate, the active ingredient in RoundUp, as of September 15, 2003. The government action resulted from testing which showed the presence of the toxic chemical in Denmark's groundwater, where most of the country's drinking water comes from. The Denmark and Greenland Geological Research Institution (DGGRI) had found glyphosate sieving down through soil after applications, where it polluted groundwater at a rate of five times more than the level allowed for drinking water.

"When we spray glyphosate on the fields by the rules, it has been shown that it is washed down into the upper groundwater with a concentration of 0.54 micrograms per litre. This is very surprising, because we had previously believed that bacteria in the soil broke down the glyphosate before it reached the ground water," says DGGRI. Glyphosate had also been found earlier in wells in Roskilde and Storstroms regions as well as the Copenhagen district council area. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) acknowledges that the material does have the potential to contaminate surface waters. If glyphosate reaches surface water, it is not broken down readily by water or sunlight. The half-life of glyphosate in pond water ranges from 70 to 84 days.

When the chemical was first detected in Denmark's groundwater, Professor Mogens Henze, head of the Institute for Environment and Resources at Denmark's Technical University, responded by stating, "The results show that glyphosate is polluting our drinking water. And unfortunately we have only seen the tip of the iceberg, because glyphosate and many other spray chemicals are on their way through the soil at this point in time. Politicians need to look at agriculture in relation to clean drinking water and decide what it is they are going to do."

The new restrictions specifically ban spraying of glyphosate on sites "where leaching is extensive because of heavy rain." There are a number of exceptions to the restrictions, which are subject to revision after an interim consultation period. Still, Monsanto, Syngenta and other manufacturers of the chemical issued complaints that the restrictions are "unacceptable" for the producers or Danish farmers.

Statistics from the Environment Ministry show that glyphosate use has doubled in Denmark in the last five years. In 2001, 800 tons were used, which made up a quarter of farmers' total use of pesticides. Use of the herbicide is also widespread in the U.S. According to EPA's most recent data on pesticide usage, glyphosate was the seventh most widely used active ingredient in agriculture, with 34 to 38 million pounds used in 1997. In 1995/96, glyphosate ranked as the second most used active ingredient in non-agricultural settings, with five to seven million pounds used in the home and garden and nine to twelve million pounds used in commercial settings.

Although glyphosate use is widespread, there are many concerns regarding its health effects. In fact, the most recent data (1998) from California's Department of Pesticide Regulation finds that glyphosate ranks first among herbicides as the highest causes of pesticide-induced illness or injury to people in California. Symptoms following exposure to glyphosate formulations include: swollen eyes, face and joints; facial numbness; burning and/or itching skin; blisters; rapid heart rate; elevated blood pressure; chest pains, congestion; coughing; headache; and nausea. It is also linked to chronic health effects. A 1999 study, A Case-Control Study of Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma and Exposure to Pesticides, (American Cancer Society, 1999), found that people exposed to glyphosate are 2.7 times more likely to contract non-Hodgkin Lymphoma.

For more information on glyphosate, see Beyond Pesticides' Glyphosate ChemWATCH fact sheet. Read about glyphosate's connection to toxic fungi growth in the August 29, 2003 edition of Daily News.

701 E Street SE #200, Washington DC 20003 • phone 202-543-5450 • fax 202-543-4791 • info@beyondpesticides.org

FACTS: Allegations that herbicides like glyphosate pose realistic safety threats to humans and animals are simply false, as can be ascertained by anybody who takes the time to consult the review documents prepared by government safety regulatory agencies or the toxicological literature. These compounds target cellular receptors and metabolic pathways unique to plants that are absent from animals. They have received the strongest findings of safety from regulatory agencies and none of the negative consequences alleged by activists for human health are confirmed from their use. Even the group Environmental Defense, rates glyphosate as among the least hazardous of the chemicals included in its extensive database (http://www.scorecard.org/chemical-profiles/).

kia ora, Patty!

blessings from the Maori, of Aotearoa.

as you bless our whole world.

and also to all those in our sacred Valley home,
who reside in consciousness, reside in loving respect.

for the unhappy and the sick -- who do not see, do not feel, cannot yet know -- we can continue to refine and expand our joy, our gentility, that they may one day understand. [and at the very least be the beneficiaries of a loving green living, LIFE-FULL, Valley again.]

it seems an organizational meeting to end the Ojai Valley ChemSpraying is being planned for next week.

also an Ojai Valley permaculture guild has been formed ... of those again with love overflowing ... and thus for those who have gardens and fruit trees, or are ready to nurture them at their homes or residences, and in community gardens, or for/with their neighbors ... well, again the heart of Goddess Moon is rejoicing, singing, bringing us all back to Her growing (and much whole-sum knowing).

arohanui, enfolding love.

By the way you are drinking more that this in arsnec (0.54 micrograms per litre) than you would be of round up

This letter was written by Dr. Bernhoft, an environmental health specialist in Ojai.

September 27, 2007

Supervisor Steve Bennett, L-1900
800 S. Victoria Ave.
Ventura, CA, 93009

RE: Arundo eradication

Dear Supervisor Bennett:

I am writing to express my medical concern about the plan to eradicate arundo with glyphosate. I am a UCSF-trained liver and pancreatic surgeon (formerly on the clinical staff of the University of Washington) who became ill from operating room chemicals and retrained over the past four years in environmental medicine, which specializes in clinical toxicology – the medical effects (which are considerable) of exposures to herbicides, pesticides, molds and heavy metals like lead.

I am enclosing some background material to bring you up to speed on medical concerns.

To strike to the bottom line, I am horrified, both personally and for my patients, at the county’s plan to spray glyphosate throughout the Matilija watershed. There is a large number of people (including myself) who lack the liver enzymes necessary to process substances like glyphosate effectively, and exposures will inevitably occur. There will be “collateral damage” through the air, from drift, and through the water. (There will probably also be significant exposures to the work crews applying the stuff to the plants.) As you will see in the background materials, glyphosate is water soluble, according to NIOSH, and also clings to soil particles in water, both of which will transport it from the arundo directly into people’s kitchen taps. Not a desirable prospect.

The Human Genome Project has made it clear over the past ten years that there are many genetic abnormalities affecting individuals’ ability to clear environmental toxins. Some authorities state that up to 85% of all chronic illness results from a cacophony between toxic exposures and genetic inability to process said exposures.

My patients (and I) don’t need more toxins to process.

If I may point out a few highlights of the enclosed materials, the Wikipedia piece on Roundup is reasonably balanced, I think. They cite two occasions in which the EPA caught Monsanto scientists falsifying data (with references). Neither encouraging, nor surprising, given Monsanto’s past record of denial and obfuscation.

Monsanto’s allegation that glyphosate is harmless is not consistent with its increasing popularity as a means of suicide. (References in several of the enclosed reports.)

Several reports are cited of endocrine disruption, in this article and the others, including adverse effects on aromatase – an enzyme which in men involves conversion of testosterone to estrogen. (As a man, I don’t like the sound of that…..)

Like most herbicides, not much is known about long-term toxicity of glyphosate. There is clear linkage to non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, which is referenced in several of the articles I am sending. There are also grounds for concern about possible adverse neurological impacts, based on its chemical structure. (I included a brief blurb on glycine, its parent compound, which plays a central role in many human metabolic activities.)

Most telling, perhaps, of the supporting materials is the comment on the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health Chemical Safety Cards which says “Do NOT let this chemical enter the environment.” (Their emphasis.) That’s NIOSH speaking, not the Sierra Club. And spraying it over the entire watershed is about as generous an entry into the environment as I can imagine, short of spraying it out of helicopters on our cities.

NIOSH also mentions at the very bottom that “sodium, potassium and amine salts” of glyphosate are “readily soluble in water.” (1.2 grams per 100 ml of water at 25 degrees Celsius – which is quite a lot.)

Each of the other documents, chemicalWatchFactsheet, PANNA’s short monograph on glyphosate, and the excerpts from the bible of toxicology, Casarett & Doull’s, outline specific problems.

I encourage you to revisit this issue. I applaud the goal, eradicating the non-native vegetation and restoring the stream, but I worry greatly about its impact on the “non-native” human population, including my patients and myself.

Thank you for your time and interest.

Sincerely,

Robin A Bernhoft, MD

yes ... as ALL the dialogs reveal ... it is always about violence and servitude ... from the Corporate State ... managed by the County and State and Fed ...

violence against women, violence against children, violence against the poor, violence against the indigenous, violence against culture, violence against the GrandMothers, the Elders ...

violence against forest and fauna ... against all our sibling relations.

this is all the sick patriarchy can accomplish ... violence ...

all they are capable of.

that is why we must set examples of refinement, of diversity, of whole-sum-ness, of gentility, connectedness ...

aka loving respect for ALL our beloved relations.

Thank you, Patty, for posting the above letters. (Comments #32 and #36)

Do you know if Dr. Bernhoft received a reply to his letter to Supervisor Steve Bennett? (The letter is dated September 27, 2007.

It would be most interesting if you could post the County's response.

This is something that NIOSH was probably responsible for.

But ordinary citizens seeking to join cleanup crews, however, were left frustrated.

Hundreds of would-be oil spill cleanup volunteers who wanted to do something were told on Saturday in San Francisco to go home and do nothing.

Spilled oil is just too dangerous for ordinary citizens to clean up, the experts said.

The word came at an "informational session" for would-be volunteers at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium sponsored by the state Department of Fish and Game.

"Don't go to the beach, don't pick up tar balls, don't touch wildlife," said Yvonne Addassi, a wildlife director for the department. "We don't want you to be in contact with the oil. It's a hazardous substance."

Scores of public-minded citizens who had shown up for the meeting - many wearing old clothes and gloves and ready for a messy day of hard work on the beach - were clearly confounded. The official announcement of the meeting said officials would tell "how the public can get trained."

But Addassi said there was really nothing an average citizen could do at the beach except get in the way or get harmed.

"We appreciate your passion," Addassi said. "We know you're trying to do the right thing. But if you want to help, please stay away from the beach."

One man stood up and told the crowd that he had already gathered about 20 pounds of oily beach goop over the past few days and wanted to know what to do with it.

That's part of the problem, Addassi replied. The goop can't be tossed in the trash. It must be disposed of in special toxic waste dumps.

"Just send it back to the ship!" someone hollered from the back of the hall.

At the volunteer meeting, everyone at the gathering was given an official-looking state volunteer application to fill out, complete with a loyalty oath. The fish and game people said volunteers might be contacted later, for non-hazardous duties.

"It's frustrating" said Ryan Gross of San Francisco. "I want to help, I don't want to sit home and do nothing. But that's what they told us to do."

Addassi assured the crowd that dozens of official beach cleaners were at work around the Bay Area, but many people at the meeting reported going to oily beaches and seeing little or no official cleanup taking place.

Some of the people at the meeting said they had already tried to do their own, unofficial cleanups and been ordered off the beaches by cops and threatened with citations or worse.
>>>

What a joke, sticky tar a "hazardous substance" You have to be trained to pick it up. You would be at more risk changing your baby's diaper that helping to clean up an oil spill. But of course all of their haz mat buddies wouldn't be getting their $50/hr pay checks to pick up tar, they don' need those pesky volunteers around.

As usual, there is no simple solution to the arundo problem. Yes, there are potential uses as a biofuel, building material, herbal medicine, etc., but, economic viability issues aside, harvesting it does not eradicate it. That can be done manually but, as others have observed, it is very labor intensive even with the latest equipment because the extensive rhizome systems must be removed.

In any case, it's time for our valley to take the lead in promoting nontoxic agriculture and land management. I'd like to see our local legislators take the simple step of making a commitment to a goal of a nontoxic Ojai valley and state their intention to encourage research and experimentation into nontoxic agricultural practices. I don't see how that could cause any harm or endanger anyone's livelihood or food supply.