WATSONVILLE TEACHERS AND STUDENTS TAKE ON METHYL IODIDE
By David Bacon
Z Magazine, July 2012
http://www.zcommunications.org/watsonville-teachers-and-students-take-on-methyl-iodide-by-david-bacon
Teachers at Watsonville's Ohlone Elementary School were more
than relieved when Arysta LifeScience, a giant Japanese chemical
company, announced on March 20 that it would no longer sell methyl
iodide in the U.S. for use as a pesticide. The school, on the edge
of Watsonville, is separated from agricultural fields by no more than
a 30-foot wide road. Over the last decade, growers have planted
strawberries, artichokes and brussels sprouts in the long rows that
snake over the hillside, ending a stones throw from the playground
where children kick their ball or hang from the jungle gym every day.
When those fields get sprayed with pesticides, or when
chemicals are plowed into the soil to kill the nematodes and root
fungus that infest strawberry plants, everyone at the school gets a
dose. It can come from the spray directly, or from the dust that
blows out of the fields into the adjacent neighborhood. Either way,
this "pesticide drift" means that whatever is used to kill pests also
gets ingested by children and adults when it wafts through the air
into their lungs, or when it coats their clothing or food for lunch.
"We know that methyl iodide causes birth defects," says Jenn
Laskin, grievance office for the Pajaro Valley Federation of
Teachers. "But we also suspect that it is one of a host of
pesticides that are having far-reaching effects on students, and on
ourselves as teachers." That realization motivated Laskin and a
group of PVFT members to become part of a broad coalition that has
fought methyl iodide and methyl bromide use for several years. When
Arysta ("the world's largest privately held crop protection and life
science company") announced it was pulling methyl iodide from the
market, the coalition called it a victory.
Arysta's announcement stated that "the decision was ... based
on its economic viability in the U.S. marketplace," and that it would
"continue to support the use of iodomethane outside of the U.S. where
it remains economically viable." What made methyl iodide
economically unviable in the U.S. was an almost-certain ruling by
Alameda County Superior Court Judge Frank Roesch that the chemical's
original approval violated both science and law. Behind that legal
suit was not only an accumulation of scientific evidence, but also a
political firestorm organized by its opponents, PVFT among them.
Methyl iodide is used primarily by strawberry growers to kill
root infestations. It was a replacement for methyl bromide, whose
use was banned in 1990 by the Montreal Protocol on Ozone Depleting
Substances. Methyl bromide attacks the ozone layer in the
atmosphere. Despite the ban, however, in 1999 over 70,000 tons of
methyl bromide were still being used worldwide as a soil fumigant,
mostly in the U.S.
Arysta then proposed methyl iodide as a substitute. In
opposition, 54 leading scientists wrote to the EPA: "We are
skeptical of U.S. EPA's conclusion that the high levels of exposure
to methyl iodide that are likely to result from broadcast
applications are 'acceptable' risks ... none of U.S. EPA's
calculations account for the extra vulnerability of the unborn fetus
and children to toxic insults." Methyl iodide is listed as a
carcinogen by other Federal agencies, including the Occupational
Safety and Health Administration and the Centers for Disease Control.
The California Department of Pesticide Regulation itself had
called the chemical "highly toxic" and found that "any anticipated
scenario for the agricultural or structural fumigation use of this
agent would result in exposures to a large number of the public and
thus would have a significant adverse impact on the public health",
and that limiting exposure from pesticide drift would be "difficult,
if not impossible." Nevertheless, EPA approved it in 2007. Then the
California DPR approved it as an "emergency regulation" in December
2010, in the final days of the Schwarzenegger administration. Three
months later the department's chief regulator, Mary-Ann Warmerdam,
went to work for chemical giant Clorox Corp. A lawsuit was filed on
January 5, 2011, challenging the approval, but meanwhile methyl
iodide application began in Fresno County in May 2011.
Beyond the scientific and legal arguments, however, are
growing concerns by teachers about what many see as the rising
effects of chemical exposure on students. Jenny Dowd teaches second
grade at Ohlone, and has worked at the school for 18 years. "I've
seen a rise in asthma and behavioral problems over that time,
especially in the last few years," she says "We have more kids with
autism. There's more hyperactivity among students, attention span
problems and chronic respiratory infections. I really wonder if
these could be due, at least in part, to pesticide exposure."
The concern of teachers and parents convinced local
authorities to install a station for monitoring chemical exposure
next to the schoolyard. It's big white box, ironically, sits next to
the raised gardens where Dowd teaches her second-graders their first
lessons in gardening, biology and the environment. They already know
something about agriculture - in Watsonville, one of the state's most
important growing areas, a large percentage are the children of farm
workers.
"That means they're also exposed to chemicals through their
parents," explains Gonzalo Herrera, who teaches kindergarten at
Ohlone. "Their moms and dads come home with pesticides in the dust
on their clothes. When their kids hug them, they get exposed. Often
the parents don't know the effects of what they're working with, so
we need to educate the whole family."
Although the most recent fight has been over methyl iodide,
concern about pesticide use goes back many years. "When I first
worked here," remembers Dowd, "my room was right next to the field.
When I got moved after three years, I noticed that my breathing and
health improved. These are obvious things you can see easily, but
what worries me also is what kind of cancer we might see down the
road."
Because of those concerns, Laskin joined other teachers,
young people in the local Brown Beret chapter, other local unions and
the Pesticide Action Network, first to get the methyl bromide ban
enforced, and then to stop methyl iodide from replacing it. Through
2011 they testified at hearings and won the support of state
legislators like Assembly Speaker John Perez, who called for its ban.
Over 200,000 people supported prohibition in the EPA's public comment
period, and 30,000 signed petitions. In August the United Farm
Workers marched to Sacramento calling for labor law reform in the
fields, including restricting the use of pesticides like methyl
iodide.
"Our partnership between migrant students and the union
brought the first resolution to the school board in Pajaro Valley,
where it passed unanimously," Laskin says, "before methyl iodide had
even been given its approval. Our students took it to the city
council. We called on STRS to divest our pension fund from Arysta,
which even prompted the company's lobbyist to call us. We sent
flyers through the schools to let teachers know what we were doing.
Finally the district called the union, after our professional issues
committee had proposed the monitoring station at Ohlone."
First Santa Cruz county passed a resolution calling for the
ban. Then the Monterey County Central Labor Council brought it to
their Board of Supervisors, traditionally a bastion of growers'
political power. After an attempt to pull it off the board's agenda
was greeted by public uproar and a rally at an Arysta reception at
the local Marriott Hotel, even Monterey was forced to pass a
resolution.
The outcry, and the discovery of corporate influence over the
staff scientists at DPR who worried about the chemical, had its
effect on the court case. Warning Arysta and DPR regulators that a
decision would likely go against them, Judge Roesch said the original
approval had been "cobbled together" and that "no evidence" justified
it. He found that DPR had broken state law by failing to look at
alternatives or considering the Birth Defect Prevention Act. The
company's own lawyer then said, "Arysta, even if it wanted to, could
not sell this product in the state of California any longer."
That leaves the question, however, of what growers will use
now to control strawberry pests. It's not a light question in
Watsonville, where thousands of workers pick in the fields every
year. "Ag companies have a job to do," Dowd says, "and they want the
best product. So what will they use? We sent Arysta packing, but
now I'm worried they'll bring back methyl bromide. What about
organic farming? Why can't we find a feasible alternative?"
Dowd wants the union to put more pressure on the district to
advocate on pesticide issues. "We need to know what chemicals the
industry is using, and what the side-effects are. We used to do
surveys when I first worked here, asking students and teachers how
they felt after a field was sprayed. If I could, I'd monitor every
f-----g field next to every school." Pesticide exposure isn't an
issue separate from the other problems facing teachers, however.
Lisa Woodhouse, who teaches fourth grade at Ohlone, says that after
five years she's still getting a pink slip every year. "Poison,
pencils and pink slips - they all start with a P," she laughs.
Laskin believes the union should be more proactive, and
describes a change that took place during the fight against Arysta.
"Students, teachers, farmers and pesticide activists called for
alternatives, not just banning methyl bromide," she explains.
"Farmers use the tools industry gives them. So if we don't want the
return of methyl bromide, we have to look at that." A statement by
the Pesticide Action Network calls for "more resilient varieties and
improved cultivars of strawberries, cultural practices (crop
rotation, cover crops, natural fertilizer), biological control (using
predatory species and bacteria instead of chemical pesticides), and
physical methods (such as soil solarization and anaerobic
disinfestation)." It quotes organic farmer Jim Cochran, who says:
"It's surprisingly easier to grow strawberries without chemicals than
the industry would lead you to believe."
In the meantime, though, Arysta is looking south to Mexico,
where it intends to continue selling methyl iodide. It's a move not
short on irony. Mexico is not just the country where most
strawberries are grown for U.S. supermarkets during winter months.
It's also the home from which the families of many Ohlone students
make their journey north to Watsonville's fields.
PHILIPPINE HOTEL UNION LEADER DANIEL EDRALIN INTERVIEW
With David Bacon
Daniel Edralin is the chairperson of the Alliance of Progressive
Labor, and one of the organizers of the leftwing Akbayan Party in the
Philippines. In an interview with David Bacon he describes the
desperate situation of Filipino workers, including those in the hotel
and restaurant industry, which his union NUHRAIN represents. He also
talke about the political goals of unions and the left in the
Philippines, and their relationship with the new government.
This interview was broadcast on KPFA's new morning show, Up Front, at
7AM on Thursday, July 5. It can be heard at the link on this webpage:
http://www.kpfa.org/archive/id/82109
For more articles and images, see http://dbacon.igc.org
See also Illegal People -- How Globalization Creates Migration and
Criminalizes Immigrants (Beacon Press, 2008)
Recipient: C.L.R. James Award, best book of 2007-2008
http://www.beacon.org/productdetails.cfm?PC=2002
See also the photodocumentary on indigenous migration to the US
Communities Without Borders (Cornell University/ILR Press, 2006)
http://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/cup_detail.taf?ti_id=4575
See also The Children of NAFTA, Labor Wars on the U.S./Mexico Border
(University of California, 2004)
http://www.ucpress.edu/books/pages/9989.html
Two lectures on the political economy of migration by David Bacon
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GgDWf9eefE&feature=youtu.be
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pd4OLdaoxvg&feature=related
--
__________________________________
David Bacon, Photographs and Stories
http://dbacon.igc.org
__________________________________
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