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For the second week in a row, the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) has at the last minute postponed spraying herbicides along Highway 84 west of Skyline Boulevard, due to weather.
Caltrans spokeswoman Gidget Navarro said Caltrans will now spray on March 17 and 24, both Tuesdays, between Skyline Boulevard and Stage Road, about one mile east of Highway 1, on the westbound side of 84 (also known as La Honda Road), with no spraying between Hildebrand and Pescadero roads.
Ms. Navarro also issued a statement on March 10, saying Caltrans will not give up herbicide spraying in San Mateo County, as residents had requested.
In 2012, the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors banned broadcast spraying of herbicides everywhere in the county except at its two airports. But the county has no authority over Caltrans. Although Caltrans has stopped spraying herbicides in other counties when asked to do so, the agency continues to spray herbicides alongside its highways in San Mateo County.
Local residents, who have formed a group called “Protect Our Watershed,” have protested Caltrans’ spraying, saying they fear it will pollute local water sources and harm the health of local residents and others who use the roads, such as cyclists.
According to Ms. Navarro’s statement, Caltrans has “evaluated mowing as an alternative to herbicide application and have determined that it is not feasible to implement this activity in a manner that is safe.” The statement says the highway has limited sight distance around curves and mowing equipment cannot safely be dropped off and loaded.
“In general, the use of herbicides is more effective and efficient,” the statement says. “Herbicide application guarantees the eradication of the noxious weeds and promotes fire safety and can be done quickly. Mowing along Route 84 could take four to six weeks to complete, if it were safe to do so.”
But those who study the toxicity of chemicals used as herbicides warn that those Caltrans plans to use have dangers.
Patty Clary, executive director of Californians for Alternatives to Toxics, says the herbicide Milestone has the active ingredient of aminopyralid. “This chemical made headlines when — after compost caused stunting and maiming of crops — it was found to persist at toxic levels in compost containing grass or manure from areas where it is applied,” Ms. Clary said.
The herbicide’s label “requires ‘restricted entry’ for 12 hours” she said. “If a worker is to re-enter earlier, they are to wear coveralls and waterproof chemical-resistant gloves.” “The interested public should question why … (they) can potentially be exposed to a pesticide during the restricted re-entry period without warning,” Ms. Clary said.
“Milestone is very persistent with a half life of 50 to more than 550 days depending on environmental conditions,” she said.
Well, these are the same folks who did such a wonderful job replacing the eastern half of the Bay Bridge. They’ve spent millions protecting the wildlife on and around the bridge, but that doesn’t apply to humans.
Well, my last post is not here so I am not sure what happened to that. In Humboldt County, Mendocino County and most of Trinity and DelNorte Counties, there is no roadside spraying allowed. Caltrans must stop this terrible practice everywhere. Don’t give up. Thanks to Patty Clary, executive director of Californians for Alternatives to Toxics, spraying was stopped up here years ago. Let’s see if this comment is posted.
There are plenty of places to load and unload equipment along 84 and 35, that is not a valid excuse. Leaving dead vegetation does not provide defensible area for fires (notice how the CDF does not spray?). Maybe it is cheaper to apply toxic chemicals, but it is NOT cheaper for those people who get cancer and other health issues. Maybe someone is just getting kick backs from the herbicide companies. I find it impossible to believe that our area is unsuitable for mowing but so many other counties are. What will it take for Caltrans to listen to us? Our Board of Supervisors did after hearing expert testimony.
This is the first time I’ve heard about the chemicals they are planning to spray. I thought Glyphosate was bad, these sound unbelievably bad. Twelve hours before it is safe to enter? Is Caltrans going to put up signage to prevent hikers and residents from crossing into these toxic areas? Unbelievable.
Thank you to Patty Clary of Californians for Alternatives to Toxics.
Why has Roundup been used on the vegetation between Woodland Avenue and the San Francisquito Creek in the City of East Palo Alto during the critical Steelhead migration period? Is the error of CalTrans or the City of East Palo Alto?
Thank you to Barbara Wood and The Almanac for covering this crucial issue to my community and beyond.
What needs to happen is for Caltrans (CT) to do AS THEY HAVE DONE in other CT districts : end broadcast, herbicide spraying of roadsides for vegetation management and follow the San Mateo Co. Board of Supervisors Resolution (March 2012) which ended this practice on county roads and parks.
It is disturbing to read CT responses claiming that they spray only once a year, when we have documented on Hwys. 35 & 84, roadside spraying being done in January, last year in June, and other years in November also. Now it’s being done in March. We simply never KNOW when, where and what they are spraying from year to year, as it varies, and there is no on-road notifications posted to warn us. As we have experienced, no notifications at all (as this January on Hwy.35) or emails to some residents.
They claim that mowing cannot be done, first they said because of costs, yet they are refusing to show the numbers comparing the costs of spraying and mowing, and what their budget IS for vegetation management.
They HAVE done mowing and cutting of Hwy. 84 just a few years ago when a Bicycle group requested clearing for an event ! On a section of 84, CT managed to mow the Scotch Broom and roadsides in a day or two. Yet, they ignore YEARS of constant requests from residents for !
It would benefit all concerned if CT would work WITH our community and not against us. Quit delaying and END this unnecessary risk to public health, our water sources, and the environment NOW.
I’m very much opposed to the spraying.
Caltrans District 1: Wake up and smell the 21st Century
By Natalynne DeLapp, Executive Director of EPIC (Environmental Protection Information Center), Arcata, CA http://www.wildcalifornia.org
Thursday, March 12th, 2015
It is time for a change. Now is time to rein in Caltrans. Last year, an independent report—the SSTI Assessment and Recommendations, authored by the State Smart Transportation Initiative—was released. Commissioned at the behest of Governor Brown, the report found that Caltrans is stuck in an “era of [i]nter-state building” despite calls (since the 1970’s) for more multimodalism, sustainability and less reliance on auto-mobilty. The study also finds that Caltrans has not developed sufficient communications skills and procedures to either explain its own decisions or to take into account important material from communities and partners; and has not fully adapted to the multi-stakeholder environment in which it finds itself. The pattern of inadequate response to community concerns about social and environmental impacts of highway development, as well as a lack of legal accountability becomes apparent when a series of projects are looked in their entirety.
Four Caltrans projects on California’s North Coast stand as examples of this “stuck-in-the-past” project planning.
richardson_grove_bikes
Richardson Grove State Park
The highway “realignment” through Richardson Grove State Park seriously threatens mammoth ancient redwood trees—a fact confirmed by the 1st District Court of Appeal, which ruled in 2012 that Caltrans failed to adequately analyze the impact of its proposed project on the ancient redwoods. This should have come as no surprise to Caltrans. In 2010, by Caltrans own admission, the agency found the project, as proposed, “may cause significant adverse impacts to old growth trees in this unique natural community.” California State Parks likewise expressed concern in its comments to the Draft Environmental Assessment, “The Draft EA does not provide an assessment of the number of trees that will have their structural root zone compromised. Without such an assessment the State Parks cannot adequately assess the proposed action’s impacts on old-growth redwoods and other mature trees. Caltrans therefore must assume that the proposed action will result in significant adverse effects to old-growth redwoods and that adequate mitigation needs to be developed.” (Emphasis added.)
Caltrans initially informed the public that the purpose of project was to enhance safety and goods movement; however it changed tack during the environmental review process, and ultimately concluded that the Proposed Project is not a safety project and concluded that the economic impacts of the proposed project on Humboldt County businesses and trucking firms would be negligible.
After seven-years and three lawsuits Caltrans has rescinded its approval of the Richardson Grove Project and withdrawn its federal Finding of No Significant Impact. Now the project cannot proceed until additional environmental analysis about the impacts of the project on the environment are completed and approved by the courts.
It didn’t have to be this way. Richardson Grove is world-class state park and the ancient redwood trees it protects deserve the fullest protection under the law—and yet, Caltrans repeatedly failed to follow the law. Instead the agency and Humboldt County advanced a public relations campaign to promote highway expansion saying that the project would be good for business and have “no significant impact,” despite the fact that to date it has not provided the public with any legitimate evidence, criteria for decision making, meaningful explanation why or analysis to substantiate that conclusion. Instead of properly analyzing viable alternatives that better reflect the needs of Californians and the environmental realities of our times, Caltrans has wasted time and money trying to prove its project is benign.
Caltrans estimates that new documentation will be available in fall 2015 and public comment will be re-opened. EPIC is committed to taking all steps to preserve Richardson Grove State Park’s old-growth redwoods and looks forward to reading and analyzing Caltrans’ next iteration of documentation.
Winter Willits WetlandThe Willits Bypass is draining 90 acres of precious wetlands for a giant interchange made for a four-lane freeway that will do little to relieve local congestion. Caltrans’ implementation of the Bypass has seen a laundry list of environmental permit and cultural violations including being charged with violating the U.S. Clean Water Act when erosion at the site sent pollution streaming into a protected creek and destroying a known Native American archaeological site that was supposed to be protected by law. The impact is so severe that Caltrans is required to do the largest environmental mitigation in its history to compensate. But Caltrans has had trouble meeting permit and mitigation requirements. In June 2014, Caltrans was so far behind in its environmental requirements the U.S.
Collapse Jan. 22, 2015. Photo Credit: Steve Eberhard Willits News
Collapse Jan. 22, 2015. Photo Credit: Steve Eberhard Willits News
Army Corps of Engineers suspended the permit and shut down most work on the bypass for more than 3-weeks. Then there was the stunning collapse of a 150-foot section of the Bypass viaduct on January 22, 2015, dumping cement and debris right into Haehl Creek! More recently Caltrans requested an additional $64.7 million in funding from the California Transportation Commission for what it calls “unforeseen issues.”
If compelled, Caltrans could implement design changes to the northern interchange such as reducing the footprint from 4-lanes to 2-lanes, which would reduce environmental impacts, damage to cultural sites and save money.
Smith River
Highway 199 Photo credit: Amber Shelton
A highway development project planned for Highway 199 and 197 in the northwestern-most corner of California poses direct and indirect threats to our redwood parks and the unparalleled salmon habitat of the wild Smith River in Del Norte County. In response to a lawsuit by EPIC, Caltrans has agreed to reassess impacts of the highway-widening project on protected salmon and their habitat along the Wild and Scenic Smith River. A settlement agreement will keep in place a court-ordered halt of construction work until Caltrans completes consultation with the National Marine Fisheries.
Elk Creek Bridge
Elk Creek Bridge
Lastly, Caltrans’ Four Bridges Project is proposing to upgrade four existing bridges along the Avenue of the Giants, a world-famous scenic drive through the ancient redwood groves of Redwood State Park. EPIC found that the agency’s initial release of the project proposal violated the California Environmental Quality Act as it failed to adequately provide the public with access to various environmental studies, which the agency relied on to justify its conclusion that the project would have no significant impact and that further study wasn’t needed.
The North Coast community deserves an honest, transparent, and open discussion about the impacts of highway development on its irreplaceable natural treasures, and about the costs and the benefits of this infrastructure development. This discussion must include recognizing the viability of alternatives that will meet needs for goods movement and transportation, as well as protect the rare and sensitive environments.
Rally in Sacramento
Rally in Sacramento
Yet, Caltrans has refused to be forthright with residents about the direct impacts of its highway development projects, much less been willing to engage the public in a productive manner when concerns are raised. In the absence of credible leadership by Caltrans, EPIC has challenged the legality of these projects with the immediate intent of protecting rare and sensitive environments, and with the long-term goal of leveraging successful court action into political momentum that will lead to a serious reform of the agency and change in culture. A major restructuring of the Caltrans is under way as a result of the SSTI Report; the question remains whether the recommendations of the independent review combined with the reality check of the court orders will be sufficient impetus to bring Caltrans out of the past.
Caltrans may have an opportunity to get it right with Last Chance Grade—a stretch of U.S. Highway 101 about ten miles south of Crescent City which sits precariously high above the Pacific Ocean and experiences frequent landslides due to the geological instability of the area Caltrans is in the beginning stages of planning for the Last Chance Grade Project along Highway 101. The agency is considering possible alternatives and reroutes in an attempt to find a long-term solution for the Last Chance Grade. U.S. Congressman Huffman’s office is working to develop a stakeholder group for facilitated discussions regarding potential projects to address Last Chance Grade. This group would work to identify one or two alternatives for a project that would ensure that U.S. Highway 101 is protected from a serious failure of the roadway and environmental harms are reduced. The group’s discussions would parallel and inform the current public process Caltrans has embarked on.
There is no question that Caltrans needs significant reform to bring it into step with best practices in the transportation field, with the state of California’s policy expectations and the true needs of North Coast residents. While the lawsuits are effective for enforcing the law, they do not permanently stop projects, and reform is what will lead to sustainable transportation solutions for rural communities. This reform is not only the demand of citizen organizations like EPIC; it is the recommendation of one of the nation’s leading authorities on sustainable transportation. The time has arrived to rein in Caltrans.
This entry was posted on Thursday, March 12th, 2015 at 1:56 pm and is filed under Blog.
Add your voice to those who oppose Caltrans continued spraying of herbicides! Please sign and forward our petition to others who are concerned:
https://www.change.org/p/california-department-of-transportation-vegetation-management-stop-spraying-herbicides-along-our-roadways-and-mow-for-vegetation-control
Thank you!