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Herbicide Free Marin by Veit Irtenkauf
MMWD Staff Recommends Removing Herbicide Use From Vegetation Management Plan
Since 2008, the Marin Municipal Water District (MMWD) has been in the process of updating its DRAFT Wildfire Protection and Habitat Improvement Plan (WPHIP) and associated Environmental Impact Report (EIR). The DRAFT WPHIP (MMWD's vegetation management plan) proposes administering conventional herbicides, including toxic Glyphosate (the main ingredient in Roundup), to manage weeds.
Concerns About Using Glyphosate in the MMWD Watershed
Respected scientific studies show that there is a strong correlation between Glyphosate and serious health and environmental hazards, including disruption of hormonal systems and beneficial gut bacteria, damage to DNA, developmental and reproductive toxicity, birth defects, cancer and neurotoxicity. Glyphosate use could also kill beneficial vegetation and foster herbicide-resistant super weeds. Glyphosate is a patented desiccant (a drying agent) and could greatly increase the risk of fire. Using toxic Glyphosate in the MMWD watershed could not only harm wildlife and beneficial vegetation but could also end up in our drinking water and jeopardize public health and safety.
Encouraging Turn Around
However, in an encouraging turn of events, the MMWD Staff Report (Item # 5), prepared for the June 19th MMWD Board of Directors' District Operations Committee Meeting, recommends removing herbicides from further consideration in MMWD's vegetation management plan (the WPHIP). If the MMWD Board of Directors concur with Staff's recommendation, then herbicides would not be used in the MMWD watershed. Instead, other safer methods would be used to control weeds (such as mechanical mowing, hand removal, controlled burning, goat grazing, planting beneficial plants to compete with and replace the weeds, etc.)
The Staff report specifically states; "Recently, the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer {IARC} classified glyphosate as a probable human carcinogen (Guyton et al 2015) which has increased public apprehension regarding exposure to this and other herbicides. Acknowledging these concerns, staff recommends removing herbicides from further consideration as we work to expedite the completion of the WPHIP and environmental review process."
Hopefully the MMWD Board of Directors will vote to uphold Staff's recommendation.