Contact us: FresCAMP@sbcglobal.net Joan Poss at (559) 227-6134
Jude Stege at (559) 432-7482
Our mission: To reduce the level of pesticide use in the San Joaquin Valley by educating the public about their misuse, acting as a watchdog to the pesticide regulation agencies, and promoting the role of organic agriculture in the Fresno community's food supply.
We want to reduce the amount of pesticides used in all areas of life:
school, workplace, home, garden, recreation area,
roadside, field and farm...
Meetings are held the third Thursday of every month at 7:00 p.m.
For location or more information:
email FresCAMP@sbcglobal.net
or call Joan at (559) 227-6134 or Judy at (559) 432-7482.
Join Us !
Be a Member of FresCAMP and support us in any (or all!) of the following ways:
Volunteer just 4 hours a year to
Distribute materials
Table at events
Phone tree for important issues
Host a coffee
Volunteer just 4 hours a month to
Attend monthly IPM meetings with FUSD
Help prepare updated materials
Attend FresCAMP Board meetings
Make a monetary donation. Mail to:
Rose Rowe
535 East San Ramon,
Fresno, CA 93710
We need professional assistance to:
Translate written materials into Spanish, Hmong
Help us get nonprofit status
Help organize a community event
We work with and support education and environmental groups, including:
Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom www.wilpf.org
What is FresCAMP??
The Fresno Coalition Against the Misuse of Pesticides
Formed in July 1999, we are a grassroots volunteer group working to reduce the harmful presence of toxic pesticides and other chemicals in our air, water, and food.
Eliminate Methyl Bromide. We have addressed policy makers at hearings and with letters warning of the dangers of toxic chemicals used on strawberries.
Sustainable cotton. We brought in speakers to highlight the dangers of industrial cotton and offer alternatives of sustainable cotton production.
Pesticides in the Air. We attend local Air Board meetings and bring attention to the portion of our polluted air which comes from pesticides. In January 2006 the CA Dept. of Pesticide Regulation began a study of chemicals in the air in Parlier.
Mosquito Abatement. We met with policy makers in April 2006 to encourage larval stage reduction of mosquitoes instead of aerial spraying later in the summer.
Pesticide Drift. We support victims of pesticide drift by lobbying for the rights of farm workers and nearby residents of sprayed fields. We attend meetings of SAFE (Safe Air For Everyone) in Visalia which is working on drift catchers and public awareness.
Healthy Schools Act of 2000. We work with others at the state level to improve the Healthy Schools Act which addresses chemicals in our schools.
We promote healthy pest management in agriculture, schools, homes and neighborhoods.
We have introduced policy changes and educated FUSD Board members and staff on the merits of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) which emphasizes awareness, prevention, and least toxic treatment.
We initiated the establishment of an Integrated Pest Management committee to work with the Environmental Services Department of FUSD. We attend monthly meetings.
Current Goals--We need Your Help!
Provide information and on-site training to FUSD staff on IPM principles.
Educate homemakers on safe cleaning methods and pesticide free yard maintenance.
Educate gardeners on IPM practices.
Ban genetically engineered crops in California. Educate the public on current GMOs in our food supply.
Encourage the adoption of the Precautionary Principle at all levels of government.
Continue to engage policy makers in discussions about pesticide/chemical usage in the Central Valley.
Californians for Pesticide Reform (CPR)
Action Alert
CHECK YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD STORES
FOR PESTICIDE WARNING SIGNS
Background: In January 2004 EPA and CropLife were ordered to distribute pesticide warning signs (see #2 on survey form) to stores selling pesticides containing any of the following seven ingredients, 2,4-D, carbaryl, diazinon, diuron, malathion, triclopyr, BEE or trifluralin. The signs are to be posted in stores to notify customers that certain pesticides may harm salmon.
Action: We are asking folks to check as many stores as possible and fill out a survey form indicating whether the signs are up in stores selling pesticides containing any of the seven ingredients. This information will be used to ensure compliance. Please return survey forms ASAP to: Californians for Pesticide Reform* 49 Powell Street, Suite 530 *San Francisco, CA 94102 Or Fax: 415-981-2727 Or Email: alison@panna.org; for more info: Phone: 415-981-1771 x324 More information about the campaign can be found at, www.watoxics.org or www.pesticide.org.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SURVEY FORM
PLEASE USE ONE FORM FOR EACH STORE VISIT
1. Date: ____________________________
2. Your Name: ____________________________
3. Your Address (street, city, zip): ______________________________________
4. Your Phone number: _______________ Your Email address:_____________________
5. Name of Store: __________________________________
6. Store Address: ___________________________________________________
7. Store City: ___________________________ State: _________ Store Zip: _________
1) Are any of the following chemicals found in pesticides being sold?
(Check Weed&Feed Lawn Products, Insect Sprays, Slug & Insect Baits, etc.)
"X" If yes (Write name of product containing it below)_______________
__ 2,4-D, ___________________________________________________
__carbaryl ___________________________________________________
__diazinon ___________________________________________________
__diuron ___________________________________________________
__malathion____________________________________________________
__triclopyr BEE_________________________________________________
__trifluralin____________________________________________________
These ingredients are in pesticide products such as Sevin, Bug B Gon Granules, malathion Ortho Hornet & Wasp Killer and other insect sprays, and combination slug and insect baits.
2) If the store is selling pesticides containing any of the ingredients listed in #1, is there a sign posted that reads? __YES __NO
SALMON HAZARD
This product contains pesticides that may harm salmon or steelhead. Use of this product in urban areas can pollute salmon streams.
3) Sign Location(s): __On display case __Other If not on display case, please describe where?
_____________________________________________________________
Optional Question
4) Is the store manager/employee aware of the required signage? __YES __NO
The non-partisan Environmental Law Institute (ELI) studied all 325 cases
brought in district and appellate courts under the nation’s cornerstone
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) from January 21, 2001 through June 30, 2004.
Check this site for a list of their findings, and to receive updates
on the Bush Administration's environmental record, delivered to your inbox five days a week.
Tell the Bush administration not to lead the way for expanded use of a banned pesticide.
Friday’s New York Times ran an article about the increasing use of methyl bromide, an extremely toxic pesticide United Farm Workers founder Cesar Chavez battled to ban.
Methyl bromide is considered more destructive to the earth’s protective ozone layer than some banned chemicals and has been linked to increased risk of prostate cancer in farm workers.
Under a treaty known as the Montreal Protocol, the chemical was to be banned for most uses by the end of this year. But politics have allowed continued use of methyl bromide.
After a decade where the use of this dangerous pesticide decreased, it is now poised to rise and the United States is leading this charge. The U.S. has already received approval to increase usage by 16% over last year. Environmentalists fear a domino effect as other countries have applied to use more of a chemical they had been learning to do without. Requests for 2006 exemptions already exceed amounts granted for 2005.
Please help us continue Cesar Chavez’s fight against this dangerous pesticide. Help us remind President Bush’s U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that methyl bromide threatens the earth and the health and safety of farm workers. A study published last year in a medical journal, based on a study of 55,000 farm workers, showed those exposed to methyl bromide were two to four times more likely to develop prostate cancer.
The EPA is now taking comments on procedures for allowing exemptions for methyl bromide. Please e-mail federal officials today and say enough is enough! We’ve had more than 10 years to find alternatives and the U.S. must be a leader in this critical fight. Tell the EPA not to approve any more exemptions or allow trading of exemptions.
Please send your e-mail today!
U.S. Refuses to Stop Lindane Use,
Even As Canada and Mexico Agree to Phase Out Dangerous Pesticide
The United States stands alone in refusing to stop the use of lindane, a dangerous pesticide and neurotoxin, despite agreement from Canada and Mexico last week to phase out the chemical.
During tri-national meetings last week in Montreal, held as part of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation of North America established by NAFTA, Mexican representatives promised to completely phase out agricultural, veterinary and pharmaceutical uses of lindane. Canada plans to stop agricultural uses by the end of this year. Another 17 other nations have already banned the chemical.
Hundreds of health care professionals and 58 public health and environmental organizations have written letters to U.S. officials urging them to ban lindane, which can cause seizures, weaken the immune system and has been linked to cancer.
Lindane is a persistent organic pollutant, meaning it remains in the environment for years. Lindane can travel long distances, causing harm to people who live far from where it is used. People are exposed to lindane mainly through eating tainted food and drinking water.
"The U.S. should take a lead role in getting rid of this old and dangerous chemical, and not lag behind the rest of the world," said Pam Miller, executive director of Alaska Community Action on Toxics, in a press release. Ms. Miller is the official non-governmental organization (NGO) representative on the taskforce.
"This old, bioaccumulative pesticide damages human nervous and immune systems and is linked to cancer," said Kristin Schafer, program coordinator for Pesticide Action Network North America. "The U.S. must reconsider its position and eliminate both pharmaceutical and agricultural uses of lindane to protect public health."
Lindane is used in the U.S. as a seed treatment for corn, wheat, barley, oats, rye and sorghum.
The public is expected to able to comment on the U.S. position on lindane next January, before the draft North American Regional Action Plan becomes final.
SOURCES:
Pesticide Action Network
For information about The Healthy Schools Campaign and the dangerous pesticide, methyl bromide, contact Jeremy Hofer at jhofer@hotmail.com.
Local groups including health professionals, the faith community, educators and environmental advocates have been lobbying for passage of a bill-AB 1006 (Chu) - to remove the most hazardous pesticides from use in California schools. Assemblywoman Sarah Reyes (D-Fresno) and other local legislators will need to support this important bill to insure that adequate protections for local school children, staff, and teachers are put in place.
The use of highly toxic pesticides in schools remains widespread. Many of these chemicals have been linked to asthma, neurological and reproductive problems, and several types of cancer. A study of California's 15 largest school districts including Fresno Unified School District, found that use of the most hazardous pesticides is widespread.
Our survey found that at least 54 pesticide active ingredients that are known or suspected carcinogens, reproductive or developmental toxins, endocrine disruptors, acute toxins and/or nervous system toxicants may be in use in and around California schools. Fresno Unified continues to use a combination of these harmful substances, though it has recently made an effort to reform these practices.
California's school children and staff are in school six or more hours per day. Learning begins with a safe learning and working environment. AB 1006 would help to insure that this happens.
Citizens can help by joining the California Teachers Association, California Schools Nurses Organization, the Fresno Coalition Against the Misuse of Pesticides and dozens of other supportive groups in writing a letter to their Assembly member or calling them on the phone. Ask them to "co-author" the bill and take a leadership role in seeing to its passage. Assemblywoman Sarah Reyes can be reached at (559) 445-5532 and support letters can be faxed to (559) 445-6006. Please fax or e-mail a copy of all correspondence to Emily Heath (Californians for Pesticide Reform) eheath@igc.org/415-981-2727 so that the coalition can keep good records. Emily can also provide sample supporter letters and more detailed information on the bill by request at 415-981-3939, x5.
-----------
Nick Guroff
California Organizer
The National Environmental Trust
2431 Mission Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
(415)647-8572 (phone and fax)
(415)786-1868 (cell)
nickguroff@earthlink.net
www.environet.org
SECONDHAND PESTICIDES
Here's a brief summary of why the analysis of the scope of the drift problem in California that it presents is so groundbreaking (part of the reason this report is 'news' is not only the findings, but the fact that this type of analysis had never been done for many pesticides).
What's "new" in this report?
What this report does is compare two sets of data: state air monitoring studies (conducted by the California Air Resources Board) and "safe" exposure levels for pesticides in air recently determined by state and federal agencies. In the report, we perform this analysis fully for 6 pesticides with alarming results: concentrations of pesticides in air regularly exceed the "safe" exposure levels, often by large margins and 80-95% of the problem goes unregulated for drift-prone pesticides.
FYI: US EPA has only done this type of analysis for a single pesticide. DPR is slightly better, but still has only completed a similar analysis for four pesticides, two of which are no longer legal for use in the state.
Why hadn't anyone done this analysis before?
NOTE: The answer to this question is different for EPA and DPR.
GENERAL ANSWER: Even though both sets of information were publicly available, this analysis had never been done thoroughly for many of the pesticides in the report. Such negligence is further evidence that the state and federal regulatory system for pesticides is neither strong nor comprehensive enough. There is a myth that pesticides are well-regulated and that the public is safe. This report shows yet again that that is not true-- state and federal regulatory agencies are not protecting public health.
EPA
For EPA, we would like to ask the same question to them, and we encourage you to do so by calling Jay Ellenberger at EPA Headquarters in Washington (703) 305-7099. Until last year, EPA has taken no notice of the extensive air monitoring that the state of California has done. With the exception of a single pesticide (Telone) they have not evaluated exposures to airborne pesticides in their assessment of how much pesticide the average person is exposed to through common exposure routes. They have taken no steps to protect people from the ill effects of drift from volatile pesticides.
DPR
California has a mandate to do the type of analysis presented in the report because of a state law passed in 1984 (the Toxic Air Contaminant Act).
Unfortunately, the agency responsible for implementing the law, DPR, has repeatedly stalled the process. In the last 19 years, they have reviewed a total of 4 pesticides, out of a total of 900 registered for use in the state. In the same time period, the Air Resources Board and the Office of Environmental Health
Hazard Assessment have reviewed 200 industrial chemicals and listed them as Toxic Air Contaminants, a process which requires that steps be taken to reduce emissions of these chemicals to the air. The process is still languishing for pesticides, as DPR continues to avoid doing its job.
Also consider...
Critics always say that there's not enough evidence to link symptoms to pesticides. The findings of this report reveal the "smoking gun": of course we expect to see ill effects when concentrations of hazardous pesticides in air are up to 184 times what regulatory agencies consider "safe." Of course we expect to see long term illness when exposure to concentrations of certain pesticides equates to lifetime cancer risks that are 56 times higher than the risk levels regulators generally consider to be the threshold for concern.
How did you select which pesticides to evaluate?
We looked at high-use pesticides (more than 700,000 pounds in 2000) for which both air monitoring data and a recent (post-1996) risk assessment was available. Only 8 pesticides fit these criteria.
---
Tracey Brieger
Campaign & Media Coordinator
Californians for Pesticide Reform
49 Powell St., Suite 530, San Francisco, CA 94102
Phone: (415) 981-3939 x 6 Fax: (415) 981-2727
Toll Free in California: 1-888-CPR-4880
Email: tracey@igc.org Website: http://www.pesticidereform.org
The Pesticide Action Network North America provides information on the use of pesticides in California and works to advance alternatives to pesticides worldwide.
Pesticide Contamination Updates and Links
State won't reduce DBCP levels in drinking water.
State officials Friday announced they will not tighten the drinking water standard for the carcinogen DBCP, a long-banned farm fumigant still widespread in groundwater around the San Joaquin Valley and Fresno. Fresno Bee, February 26, 2000.
Californians for Pesticide Reform provides information on pesticides in California drinking water, dangers to California farmworkers from pesticide poisoning, California pesticide use maps, action alerts, and CPR
campaigns.
Just enter your zip code and find out what pollutants are being released into theFresno community--and who is responsible. Find out how Fresno County ranks in terms of toxic chemical releases from manufacturing facilities; about air and water quality rankings; or join one of the forums about pollution in the Fresno County area.
Beyond Pesticides / National Coalition Against the Misuse of Pesticides. Beyond Pesticides/NCAMP began in 1981 as the National Coalition Against the Misuse of Pesticides, a non-profit membership organization that was formed to serve as a national network committed to pesticide safety and the adoption of alternative pest management strategies which reduce or eliminate a dependency on toxic chemicals. We are governed directly by our membership, including individuals and organizations, which elects a 15- member board of directors. In 1998, the board of directors decided that the name Beyond Pesticides/NCAMP better captured the mission of the organization.
ActForChangemakes it easy for people to become online activists and speak out on behalf of progressive issues. By combining progressive news with opportunities for citizen action, ActForChange is a powerful and far-reaching catalyst for social change.
IPM Institute of North America, Inc. (Integrated Pest Management): Some of the topics featured at this site are: IPM and eco-labels, bibliography, events, newsletter, school IPM. IPM standards for school buildings, for school grounds, pest control options, links & resources, school IPM headlines, building mgt., grounds mgt., start an IPM program, a news archive, and more. Also, How to Become an IPM Super Sleuth (for kids).
School IPM, Integrated Pest Management in Schools includes information such as: Latest Additions - US House School IPM bill (216 KB PDF file), What is School IPM? - School IPM Manual (15.5 MB PDF file), Information for the Administrator, Educational Presentations for School IPM, Technical Information on School IPM, Teaching Curriculum, Related WWW Sites - By Location - By Subject, Message Board - How to use the Message Board, School IPM Listserv, School IPM CD-ROM.
Find out how Fresno County ranks in terms of toxic chemical releases from manufacturing facilities; about air and water quality rankings; or join one of the forums about pollution in the Fresno County area.
Some of the topics featured at this site are: IPM and eco-labels, bibliography, events, newsletter, school IPM. IPM standards for school buildings, for school grounds, pest control options, links & resources, school IPM headlines, building mgt., grounds mgt., start an IPM program, a news archive, and more. Also, How to Become an IPM Super Sleuth (for kids).
as: Latest Additions - US House School IPM bill (216 KB PDF file), What is School IPM? - School IPM Manual (15.5 MB PDF file), Information for the Administrator, Educational Presentations for School IPM, Technical Information on School IPM, Teaching Curriculum, Related WWW Sites - By Location - By Subject, Message Board - How to use the Message Board, School IPM Listserv, School IPM CD-ROM.