2, 4-D & South Clatsop's Watersheds
The Herbicide Connection
C oast R ange
A ssociation
In 19*0 Tower Chemical Company spilled the pesticide Kellhane into Florida's lake
Apopka W ithin the decade Lake Apopkas once robust alligator population had crashed to
one tenth its size In many years less than 20% o f alligator eggs hatch, and h a lf o f those
that do hatch die w ithin 20 days But equally alarming more than hall o f lake Apopka's
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juvenile male alligators have severely shrunken penises
Swimming in Estrogens
Juvenile male alligators in Lake Apopka have strikingly high estrogen levels and very
low testosterone levels. In fact, the young male's estrogen, testosterone ratios were very
close to those o f female alligators from clean lakes Research revealed that the Lake
Apooka alligators were the victim s of dicofol and DDE. a brefrktjowrip ro ju u pfD.PL.aJJ
o f which entered the lake's food chain from the Kellhane scdl
Executive Director
Chuck Wilier
Federal Lands Oversight
The astonishing fact is that D D T, DDE, and dicofol are just three o f several dozen
man-made chemicals capable o f im ita tin g n a tu ra lly o ccu rrin g hormones, in this case
the female sex hormone estrogen Over the past ten years a frightening picture has
emerged o f a newly identified class o f toxic chemicals called endocrine disrupters
Lisa Brown
BOARD OF
DIRECTORS
President
BobGerl
Endocrine Disrupters
Vice President
Marie Cole
We re all fam ilia r w ith the expression "raging hormones” that is used to excuse the
peculiarities o f adolescent behavior Estrogen and testosterone are the hormones secreted
by the endocrine system that turn boys into men and girls into women The endocrine
system is a collection o f organs and glands that produce the byxj) > honnoney In addition
to the sex hormones, the endocrine system produces hormones to regulate metabolism,
Secretary
Don Andre
Treasurer
Patrick Tempel
growth, response to stress, and aspects o f the immune system
The chemicals capable o f endocrine disruption are certain pesticides (including
herbicides, insecticides and fungicieds), solvents, heavy metals and additives in plastics
O f p a rticu la r interest are the organochlorines 2.4-D and atrazine, two chemicals
w idely used in Coast Range forestry. In the past, most concern has focused on the
cancer causing ability ol many o f these chemicals Now, new understandings ol theetfecis
o f these chemicals implicate them in a whole host o f problems linked to disrupting or
m im icking body hormones This problem is showing up tragically in both human &
William Gates
Carolyn Lochert
Doug Ray
w ild life populations
Learning Impaired Children, Breast Cancer & Declining Sperm Counts.
Keep fi& U R t
What happens to children who are exposed to high levels o f organochlorines often
found in fish, dairy products and other bioaccumulativc loods ’ A study trom the Great
Lakes area o f children exposed to PCBs in the womb and through breast feeding clearly
showed serious problems w ith short term memory, attention span, and mental processing
o f v isual images The seriousness o f the problem was directly related to the amount o f
By
S teve VfctEoD
PCBs in the mothers umbilical cord blood
trend being linked »ch e m ica l hormones is the drop in sperm count o f men living in industrial nations Since
1940 average sperm production in men has fallen 50 percent Chemical hormones have been linked to
increased incidence o f testicular cancer and prostate enlargement Lndrocrinc disrupters are causing w ild life
to suffer Western Gulls failing to reproduce o il Los Angeles, whales in the G u lf o f St Lawrence suffering
depressed immune systems, and salmon mortality have all been linked to this newly defined class ol
reproductive and endocrine-disrupting chemicals
The Seaxitle/Gearhart, Cannon Beach and Arch Cape W atersheds are al Risk.
T w o chemicals widely used in Coast Range forestry are reported to be endocrine disrupters 2,4-D and
atrazine Literally hundreds o f thousands o f acres o f Coast Range forest land are helicopter yprgytd with
2.4- D every decade Last year, one Oregon Department o f Forestry (O D F ) o ffic ia l from Lincoln County
remarked about helicopter herbicide spraying by saying, "W hen I smell 2, 4-D in the a ir. it must be
s p rin g ." 2-4-D is widely used to k ill alder trees in industrial conifer plantations 2 . 4-D is a growth
regulating hormone that causes alder trees to go into a hyper-growth mode and die 2 . 4-D can persist in
water for months, working its way through the watershed Private industrial forests make up over 9O*o o f
South Clatsop County municipal watersheds We suspect South County watersheds have been sprayed w ith
2.4- D in the past W ithout a doubt they w ill be sprayed in the future unless we speak up
Coast Range Association Herbicide Mapping
How much herbicide spraying is occurring in C latsop County's forests and watersheds9 Everyone who
spray s herbicides files a notification w ith the local ODF office Yet, i f you went to O DFs Astoria office and
asked if they knew how many acres were sprayed and where those acres are they won't be able to tell you As
long as the directions are follow ed, the D epartm ent o f Forestry does not th in k it a problem i f 500, 2.000
or 5,000 acres o f y o u r watershed have been sprayed w ith 2 , 4-D. In fact, they think its good because
spray ing 2,4-D is. in their view, part o f good forestry
W ild life Gender
Scrambling
' Delicate hormone balances
determine sexual devel-
! opment in many animals
Scientists believe that PCBs,
D D T , and other chemicals
passing from mother to fetus
or bird eggs can create o ff­
spring that are gender
scrambled
Channel Island western gulls
o ff Southern California are
1 experiencing reproductive
I failure The mating colony is
] almost 80° o female Whv1
DDT contamination has
apparently feminized male
gulls and thev don't bother to
m ingle w ith female gulls
We disagree and believe you want to know how much and w here
herbicide spraying occurs We also believe the more you know about
hormone disrupters like 2.4-D, the more you w ill want to know i f your
watershed has been or w ill be sprayed W ith your help we can pros ide that
inform ation I w ant to show you a map o f South Clatsop C ounty no one
has ever seen before. Over 200 hours o f work went into this map The map
was made from ODF notification data Each square on the map is a section,
usually 640 acres Ihe number displayed in each seel ion is the number o l
¡lyres. over the past three und h a ll years. llia l land owners n o liln d D I U
they intend Io spray with herbicides
Nonce that the sections with the highest spray numbers arc in the central
portion o f the county Central county is where the industrial foresters
started their current wave o f ciearcutting T h e wave is heading fo r the
coast as more coastal watershed forests reach 35 to 50 years o f age.
Hanson. I known on television as Cavenham) the company that owns most
South Counts watersheds intends on "harvesting" these areas in the next 10
to 20 years W ill they use 2,4-D and other herbicides9 Only Hanson can say
what they intend to do Hanson currently practices a clearcut. site prep
(bum ), plant and. when needed, herbicide spray forestrv
The tw o leading risk factors fo r breast cancer - exposure to excessive estrogen and
high fat diets - may be exacerbated by chemical hormones like 2.4-D Another major
With \ our Help the Truth W ill be Know n
Oregon's private industrial foresters practice a forestry largely outside o f public view T he delorestation,
burning and spray ing practiced by industrial foresters results in the loss o f functioning forests, w ild life
habitat and healthy streams For forest workers and drinking water users, industrial forestry is a health threat
This isn't the view Hanson shows on their Portland television commercials Ih e Coast Range Association
doesn't have hundreds o f thousands o f dollars to counter the in d u stry's shameless com m ercials Instead
we have our eyes focused on the great truth o f our Coast Range forests A truth that understands our Coast
Range forests and rivers were once the mightiest on Earth A truth that
knows our coastal rivers once teemed w ith salmon and our shores thrived
w ith native peoples A truth that knows that we are exposed too to many
dangerous chemicals like 2.4-D A nd we intend to make those truths
known.
W hat Should be Done? O ur work for 1995 and beyond.
Herbicide mapping is only the beginning N ow , w ith your help, vve
intend to do serious number crunching and map making But, it w ill take
hundreds o f additional hours and thousands o f dollars We can t do it
w ithout your help That's why I want to share our w ork plan w ith you
We intend not only to analyze herbicide use but also harvest
(deforestation) rates and stream conditions
O ur goal is to:
1.
2.
3
4.
Document who owns the land
Document what they are doing
Document the land's ecological condition.
Explain in w hat way industrial landowners are
responsible for ecological problems.
5. Propose new forestry practices that w ill protect
rivers and public health and provibe for a vibrant
forest products industry.
-
1 have been to that
special place in the
shadow o f Saddle
Mountain. I have
seen the giant cedar
trees.
1 know of the
Valley O f The
Giants, In the heart
of the Coast Range,
where trees 160
feet up still are ten
feet across.
■
Quite obv iously, the first step in solving a problem is to identify it Please jo in in this e ffort w ith a
contribution ofS 25. S50. $100 or more The choice is between what you see happening everywhere in
Clatsop County or what you see on the television commercials I he sports fisherm an shaking th e ir heads
over missing salmon are the real tru th . The co rp o ra te propaganda com mercials are not W ith vour help
vve can bring an intelligent focused understanding to the dehate over proper land stewardship
I rest assured that your concern and financial support w ill see us through this d iffic u lt work
Coast Range Association Herbicide Mapping Project, 1994.
The above map shows number o f acres notified to O D F for herbicide application from the period
January 1990 to June 1994 Each square represents approx. One square m ile (640 acres). Number in each
Sincerely
square is the amount o f acres notified fo r spraying.
Chuck W ilie r
Director
P S Remember our concern isn't w ith the 98% o f forest land owners who own 10% o f the land
O u r concern is w ith the 2% o f owners who own 90% o f the land We must insisi on responsible corporate
stewardship Please become a Coast Range Association member and support our vital work
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