Eugene weekly., November 29, 2012, Image 19

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weed eradication. For example, two-and-a-half
million dollars were allocated to weed eradication
projects in the 2009-2011 biennium. The majority of
these projects rely on herbicides like picloram, and
$2.5 million buys a lot of poison.
The poisoning near La Pine took place over 7 days
at a cost of over $8,000, which included $677 per
day for two workers, hazardous chemicals, and
transportation. Roughly the same amount of
money could have been used to hire five restoration
workers at $15/hour/day to pull the weeds. More
jobs, zero toxics.
Last Flight:
Bees in Peril
There is a problem when the state authorizes grant
money to spray carcinogens around people’s front
yards in a manner that violates the law. Beyond
Toxics has a solution, starting with a state policy
which would protect people and the environment
as the first priority.
by Lisa Arkin, Beyond Toxics Executive Director
T
hey fell out of the sky like grisly hail until
the ground was cloaked in a shroud
of yellow and black. They kept falling,
wounded beyond repair, unable to fly, paralyzed
by something in their midst. They fell not by the
hundreds, or even the thousands, but by the
hundreds of thousands. No one knows exactly
how many bees died that day, but a conservative
estimate places the number at over 7 million.
We recommend instituting an integrated pest
management plan, which affirms “pesticides as the
last resort.” We call it the Safe Public Places Act, and
we intend to introduce it in the 2013 legislative
session. If Safe Public Places had been the law,
Denare’s home, family, her dog, her chickens, and
her neighbors wouldn’t have been poisoned.
They died on Jim Doan’s land, but not by his
hand. Doan runs a bee farm, and last year 145 of
his hives collapsed. He had tended those hives
with skill, offering care and shelter in return for
honey. But now millions of the bees were dead,
and while mass die-offs are not unheard of in
nature, Doan suspected other sources.
See the video by Douglas McGowan starting December 13th:
www.BeyondToxics.org.
an Harshbarger of La Pine, Oregon was forced to remove many
ees on his property after excess pesticide spraying killed them.
or sensible pesticide
oming a member.
e stories
ture.
.
Beyond Toxics Mission
Beyond Toxics works to guarantee
environmental protections and health for all
communities. We challenge causes
of toxic pollution and help communities find
effective, lasting solutions.
orking for
our membership and
e for change in
e St.
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Beyond Toxics is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization
and all contributions are fully tax-deductible.
He took a sampling of dead bees, along with
honey from the hives, and submitted them for
toxicological testing. The results found high
concentrations of clothianidan, a pesticide in the
Neonicotinoid class. Neonicotinoids, or “neonics”
for short, are poisons used in the industrial
farming of corn and cotton. They are also used
on lawns, rose bushes, and other ornamental
plants. In fact, neonics, are some of the most
widely used insecticides in the world. They kill
by attacking the central nervous system of the
insect. Doan didn’t have to look further than
the corn field planted adjacent to his property.
Neonics, the pesticide of choice used in the
planting, had drifted onto his property.
The bees died for corn.
BLASTING POISONS INTO A BEE’S WORLD
The corn seeds were impregnated with
clothianidan before they were even planted.
Once saturated with the pesticide, the seeds
are loaded into a machine that shoots them
into the ground under intense air pressure.
The soil disturbance and the agitation of the
seeds chafing against each other create a cloud
of insecticide residue dust. It migrates on the
breeze and settles onto meadows and fields
where it contaminates the pollen and nectar
consumed by pollinators such as bees and
butterflies. If the concentration is high enough,
the poison does what it was designed to do. It
quickly kills the insect. Lesser amounts may kill
over time as the pesticide contaminates
the hive and the honey and pollen inside.
Photo by Bev Veals
th
ope of the
R O S E
Photo by Douglas McGowan
e
. Last summer the
M O U N T A I N
Neonics loiter in the environment. According
to the EPA, they can persist in soil for as long as
three years, during which time fresh generations
of untreated plants absorb the chemical residue
lingering in the soil.
But beyond farming applications, neonics are
also marketed to unsuspecting homeowners.
Local stores sell them for use in gardens and
lawns. (Our website has the names of common
home garden products to avoid which contain
neonics.)
Local Lane County beekeepers are so concerned
that they plan to circulate a plea to homeowners
and local retailers asking them to shun any
gardening chemicals with neonicotinoids. A joint
project with Beyond Toxics, “Healthy Gardens
Equal Healthy Bees” encourages neighborhoods,
block by block, to pledge to be pesticide free. In
return, beekeepers promise fresh, healthy honey
harvested from neighboring hives.
The bee die-off is not confined to the United
States. According to a recent National Academy
of Sciences report, we are seeing a global
collapse of honey bee and native bumblebee
populations. Concerns have led to partial bans
on the use of some neonicotinoids for specific
crops in several European countries, including
France, Germany, and Italy. But such bans, while
welcome, are always partial, inadequate, and
late, preceded by the death of millions of bees.
ARE WE TAKING BEES FOR GRANTED?
We consider pollination services to be free and,
in the natural scheme of things, they are. Much
of our agriculture depends on what bees have
been doing, without help or interference, for
millions of years. But, if we insist on overriding
nature, we must do our part to keep bees and
their hives healthy by decreasing the use of
poisons upon the land. If bees disappear, a chain
of events would be set in motion leading to
plant extinctions, crop failures, and famine.
Before picking up a can of “Bug-Be-Gone”
consider that you might just get what you wish
for. Besides exercising personal accountability,
what can be done to protect these delicate
pollinators? We need public policy based on the
precautionary principle, “when in doubt, do no
harm.” The fate of bees and humans is inextricably
linked. As bees go, so do we.
For more background on the issue of pesticides
and the plight of our honey bees, see our web site:
www.FriendsOfHealthyBees.org