Work Group on Pesticides and Health - Status

Exciting News from OTA’s Pesticide Action at the State Capital!

As you know, OTA’s efforts to advocate for pesticide-free buffer zones around schools resulted in the Oregon Senate’s decision to launch a Work Group on the issue of pesticides and children’s health.  OTA staff and board members are key members of this official legislative committee.

Clear Cut and Spray Operation Next to Triangle Lake School

On Monday, February 18, the chair of the Work Group, Representative Suzanne Bonamici delivered the Group's progress report to the Senators.  Lisa Arkin, OTA’s Executive Director, and a reporter from the Eugene Weekly attended the hearing. 

Representative Bonamici did an outstanding job of presenting the strong recommendations from the Work Group requiring that all schools adopt Integrated Pest Management Plans and making a case for continuing our efforts to address pesticide drift and updating Oregon’s 17-year old statutory definitions of Integrated Pest Management. 

The recommendations were well received by the Senators.  They wholeheartedly endorsed the continuation of the Work Group through 2008 and urged us to continue with our deliberations to find possible solutions to the problem of drift on schools and bus routes.  At that point, OTA submitted testimony urging the adoption of buffer zones around schools and provided color photographs of Triangle Lake School that is located next to a clear cut and spray operation.

Oregon Toxics Alliance is working toward advancing all six key recommendations included in the original agenda (the Work Group has reached consensus on the first 4 points):

1. Safety for Kids: Require that all Oregon public schools adopt an Integrated Pest Management Policy by 2011.
2. Prevention and Least Toxic Alternatives First: Monitor pest problems, determine threshold levels and try non-chemical alternatives before pesticides are ever considered.  If pesticides are determined to be necessary, require that application be done by a licensed pesticide applicator trained in IPM methods.
3. Right to Know: Require that schools notify parents, faculty, and staff prior to pesticide application and that schools post notices of pesticide use before and after application on school grounds.
4. Keep Records: Require publicly accessible information about pesticide use in all schools, reported to the Department of Agriculture and included in the Pesticide Use Reporting statute.
5. Protection from Potential Off-Campus Pesticide Drift: Require buffer zones around school property and school bus routes.
6. Define Integrated Pest Management: strengthen statutory definitions of IPM to include human and environmental health and least toxic alternatives.