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Herbicide Free Marin by Veit Irtenkauf
MMWD Board of Directors Votes to Remove Herbicides From Further Consideration!
At the July 7th meeting the Marin Municipal Water District (MMWD) Board of Directors were given a standing ovation by a packed room of residents after they voted to approve Staff's recommendation to remove herbicides from further consideration in MMWD's DRAFT Wildfire Protection and Habitat Improvement Plan (WPHIP) and to revise the plan and complete the associated Environmental Impact Report (EIR) accordingly.
Hence, herbicides will not be used in the MMWD watershed!
Background:
In 2005 MMWD enacted a moratorium on the use of herbicides in the MMWD watershed that has stayed in effect until today. However, since 2008, MMWD has been in the process of updating its DRAFT Wildfire Protection and Habitat Improvement Plan (WPHIP) and associated EIR. The DRAFT WPHIP had proposed administering conventional herbicides, including toxic Glyphosate (the main ingredient in Roundup), to manage weeds in the watershed.
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. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), part of the World Health Organization (WHO), determined that Glyphosate probably causes cancer in humans and classified the herbicide as a Group 2A carcinogen. 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.
An Amazing Turn of Events:
The MMWD Board voted to approve Staff's recommendation to remove herbicides from further consideration in MMWD's vegetation management plan (the WPHIP). As a result, the ban on herbicides will continue and they will not be used in the MMWD watershed. Instead, other safer methods will 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 stated;
"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."