12 CapitalPress.com
October 14, 2016
Washington
Orchard workers sue over spray drift
By DAN WHEAT
Capital Press
YAKIMA, Wash. — Seven
orchard workers have iled a
lawsuit alleging Ag Air Fly-
ing Service of Royal City and
Jones Produce of Quincy were
negligent in applying pesti-
cides two years ago, causing
workers to become ill.
The suit, iled Oct. 5 in Ya-
kima County Superior Court,
claims that on Aug. 27, 2014,
Ag Air was spraying a potato
ield for Jones Produce near
Mattawa and allowed the pes-
ticide to drift off-target onto a
nearby orchard where approx-
imately 68 workers were tying
the limbs of young apple trees.
Ag Air could not be
reached for comment. Mike
Jones, president of Jones Pro-
duce, had no comment, saying
he wasn’t aware of the inci-
dent.
Products in the spray mix
included Silencer and Wetcit
for the potatoes and 45 gallons
of Oberon left in the tank from
an earlier application to a corn
ield, the lawsuit states. All of
those products are labeled with
warnings against human expo-
sure and warn incorrect appli-
cation is a violation of federal
law.
Shortly after the exposure,
some workers experienced
symptoms that included head-
aches, numbness and tingling
in the face and lips, diarrhea,
nausea and vomiting, dizzi-
ness, shortness of breath and
tightness in the chest, the law-
suit alleges.
“The pesticide laws are
very clear. It is a violation to
spray in a manner inconsistent
with the label and the labels
clearly state not to permit drift
onto people,” said Joe Morri-
son, a Columbia Legal Ser-
vices attorney representing the
workers.
He called the incident “un-
acceptable” and said notice to
the orchard could have pre-
vented it because the orchard
then could have temporarily
removed the workers.
One of the plaintiffs,
Modesta Arista Gomez, and
her daughter, Rocio Gomez,
said there was no prior notice
of spraying.
“When the plane was pass-
ing over us, we didn’t give
it a lot of thought. We were
working and doing our jobs.
Then we started to smell some-
thing really awful. I’ve never
smelled anything like it,” Aris-
ta said. She and other workers
became ill.
The state departments of
Agriculture and Health inves-
tigated the incident and found
the pesticides on workers’
clothing, the lawsuit states.
The Department of Health
concluded that virtually all the
workers suffered a “probable”
pesticide-related illness, the
lawsuit says.
On May 2, an administra-
tive law judge found Ag Air
violated state pesticide appli-
cation laws and levied a civil
penalty of $440 and suspend-
ed pilot Leonard Beierle from
spraying for nine days.
That decision remains
under review by the Depart-
ment of Agriculture over ive
months after it was rendered,
Morrison said.
Rocio Gomez called it a
slap on the wrist and said the
workers were easily visible
from the air because the trees
were small and lots of cars
were parked along the edge of
the orchard.
The lawsuit seeks an
amount for damages to be
proven at trial.
Registration for popular
wheat academy now open
Falling number,
herbicide drift on
course agenda
By MATTHEW WEAVER
Capital Press
Last year, Washington
State University’s Wheat
Academy sold out within
three weeks of registration
opening.
Registration for this year’s
academy opened Oct. 10, and
is limited to 75 people. Price
is $75 for farmers and $125
for agriculture professionals.
“This is my good problem
— I have too much interest
in the program,” WSU weed
science professor Drew Lyon
said. “I guess I’ve opted for
keeping the quality high and
numbers low (rather than)
than try to ill the gap.”
The program will be Dec.
13-14 in on the WSU campus
in Pullman.
Speaker availability only
allows for one program, he
said. The program brings
more science into the man-
agement of wheat than other
workshops, Lyon said.
Presenting researchers go
more in-depth during 90-min-
ute sessions and incorporate
hands-on learning.
“We generally get very
good reaction, but watching
people as they come out of the
different rooms as their ses-
sions end, some of them, you
can tell, they had to remember
back to that high school or
early college chemistry class
they had, 20 or 30 years ago in
some cases,” Lyon said. “For
a lot of them, it brings a little
more understanding as to why
the recommendations that are
made for wheat management
are the way they are.”
Farmers get to interact with
researchers and agriculture
professionals, Lyon said.
“The chemistry just seems
to be right between the speak-
ers, the topics, the format and
who attends it,” he said.
Falling number, a topic last
year, is on the agenda again.
The program may include
showing what happens to
products baked using grains
with low falling number, Lyon
said.
“Last year the topic wasn’t
at the front of a lot of people’s
minds,” he said. “This year it
will be, and so my guess is the
interactions will be different
this year than they were last
year for that particular class.”
Another topic is how spray
particle sizes and nozzle selec-
tion affect herbicide drift.
Bob Klein of the Universi-
ty of Nebraska will speak on
drift, pesticides and Washing-
ton’s ban on ester herbicides.
“There’s only probably
three or four people in the
whole country who are as
knowledgeable as Bob Klein
on this topic,” Lyon said. “I
think a lot of people will be
very interested in what he
has to say.”
Retired USDA Agricul-
tural Research Service scien-
tist Betty Klepper will speak
about wheat growth and de-
velopment.
42-1/#7
Dan Wheat/Capital Press
Tips and buds of cherry trees were eaten off by elk in Mike Trainer’s orchard south of Malaga, Wash.,
on Oct. 4. A herd of elk can do a lot of damage to an orchard in short order.
Growers: Elk damaging
Wenatchee orchards
By DAN WHEAT
Capital Press
WENATCHEE, Wash. —
Elk are damaging fruit trees in
orchards south of Wenatchee
again and the state Department
of Fish and Wildlife has in-
creased the number of hunting
permits in the area, partly in
response to complaints from
orchardists last winter.
Several orchards between
the Columbia River and
foothills south of Malaga,
which is seven miles south
of Wenatchee, seem to have
the most problems, mainly in
blocks of young trees.
“A couple of nights ago I
had three big males with racks
(antlers) and probably 70 to 80
females. It’s a lot. We’ve been
trying to chase them out with
four-wheelers but they are not
really paying attention to us,”
said Carlos Torres, who leas-
es 67 acres of orchard from
the nearby Alcoa Wenatchee
Works.
The herd comes to the riv-
er to drink and then eats ap-
ples, tips and buds of young
trees and rubs bark off trunks
and branches. They’re in his
orchard mostly during the eve-
nings and nights. It’s noisy with
bulls ighting since it’s mating
season, he said.
Torres picked a block of
Granny Smith apples early be-
cause elk were eating them. He
estimates he’s lost about 1,200
young Honeycrisp and Gala
trees. He needs to take them out
this fall and replant next spring
at a cost of about $10 per tree
but isn’t ready to do that un-
til he decides if he can afford
8-foot-tall fencing for 14 acres.
Joseph Bridges, WDFW
wildlife conlict specialist, is
trying to help him get fenc-
ing wire on discount for about
$9,000 and Torres will supply
posts and labor.
Torres said he has tried haz-
ing with guns and other noise-
makers, hanging laundry fabric
softener tissues in trees and has
sprayed trees with soap and
water but nothing deters elk for
long. Last winter, the herd was
in his orchard for weeks.
In recent weeks, neighbor-
ing orchardist Mike Trainer
hung fabric softener tissues in
his young cherry trees.
The smell of fabric softener
tends to keep mule deer away
but not elk, said Rene Hernan-
dez, another area grower.
“We will start fencing in
a week or two so I’m not too
worried anymore,” he said.
“Whoever has an orchard and
wants to keep it, they have to
fence.”
Hernandez said he’s only
had 20 to 30 elk this fall but last
winter had 50 to 150.
This fall, WDFW increased
the number of antlerless elk
hunting permits in the Malaga
area to 170 over seven time pe-
riods versus 90 over four time
periods last year, according to
statistics supplied by David
Volsen, WDFW biologist.
The increase, he said, is
partly in response to orchard
damage last winter and part of
an effort to reduce the larger
Colockum herd, which includes
the Malaga elk. The Colockum
herd was estimated at 6,000 elk
a year ago and more than 60
were killed on Interstate 90 be-
tween Vantage and Ellensburg
last winter.
Now the herd is about
5,000, which is about 300 over
goal, said Scott McCorquodale,
WDFW wildlife manager in
Yakima. The department issued
700 to 900 antlerless hunting
permits for the herd this fall and
a year ago to thin the herd but
likely will reduce that number
next fall, he said. Orchardists
have fewer elk problems in
milder winters and last winter
was harsher, more like what
used to be normal, Volsen said.
State Sen. Linda Evans
Parlette, R-Wenatchee and an
orchardist uphill from Malaga
near Wenatchee Heights, has
asked to get the issue on the
agenda of the Oct. 26 Stemilt
Partnership meeting. Parlette
and Trainer are cousins.
“Last Christmas we counted
60 to 65 in our orchard. They
did damage and we’ve never
had that problem before,” Par-
lette said.
“As more orchards go in,
they displace habitat. It’s an
issue that seems to be getting
worse. I don’t know what the
solution is,” she said.
NOW SCHEDULING FOR
WATER WELL
DRILLING &
EXPLORATION
Specializing in 10” diameter and above water wells.
• Deepening
• Reaming
• Commercial
• Irrigation
41-1/#14
Call Classifieds for
More Information
www.rjdrillcompany.com
509-981-6675 • ryan@rjdrillcompany.com
Licensed • Insured • Bonded • Odessa, WA
40-1/#13