Dear Editor,
IS the very intolerable way NaturChem (contracted by BCES) administered the herbicide “viewpoint” by Bayer upon the environment of Magic Valley U.S.A. and us all?
It has always been said that the customer is “always right.” But just exactly how much right-of-way does BCES have over us all as the people of the community? Well, the exact answer to that question to be precise is 12’ circumference at the top of the electric pole, 10’ circumference at the ground level base of the electric pole and 5’ circumference around the lead offs.
The real concern is the hap-hazard way NaturChem in South Carolina (contracted by BCES) exposed our homes, neighborhoods and the natural beauty of our valley to the chemical warfare of spraying toxic chemical “Herbicide Viewpoint.”
BCES offers a fact sheet in their office designed to put our passive minds to rest. Well, let’s dig a little deeper in the well, boys. Here are the facts that their little fact sheet will not tell you… “Viewpoint Herbicide” has a label that we can all read and weep in defense of our environment. It can be downloaded from ArborChem of a Bayer-Viewpoint Label.
You can also just ask “Google” to tell you about “Viewpoint Herbicide” by Bayer.
Last year, Bayer, a foreign-based company in Germany, bought Monsanto. Remember Monsanto? They are the makers of “Round Up.” The active ingredient in “Round Up” is Glyphosate, a cancer-causing agent that can be mixed with other active herbicidal ingredients to spike the spray to give it the potent “kick” to play wipe-out. Note that “Viewpoint Herbicide” is no longer sold in California and is banned from use in some of the counties in New York.
There is an article on the internet site: Genetic Literacy Project 2019/05/15 worth looking at entitled, “Viewpoint, $2 billion Glyphosate Cancer damages highlight why science is no match for a persuasive lawyer.” To contact Chris Hughes, the author of the article, email him at [email protected]. To contact the editor of the story, go to [email protected] and to read the full article, visit, www.bloomberg.com.
Herbicide is a very powerful, potent, very toxic, very poisonous chemical compound used to defoliate and destroy plant life. There are two types of herbicides, selective and non-selective (sometimes called soil sterilant).
“Viewpoint” a growth regulator herbicide causes plants to prematurely die and alters their growth patterns.
Herbicides are extremely hazardous because they are extremely poisonous and must be handled and administered with extreme care.
It appears that the man from North Carolina who actually did the spraying, did not practice such care with our neighborhoods. Applications with wind speed greater than 10 m.p.h. are prohibited.
In the United States, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulates the dangers and use of herbicides.
Most young people today cannot remember how in the 1960’s and 1970’s, a mixture of the herbicide 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T was widely used to defoliate and kill trees and brush. During the Vietnam War this mixture was known as “Agent Orange.” Military forces sprayed it on trees in the jungles of South Vietnam to expose enemy snipers. During the 1970’s, researchers found that all 2,4,5-T products contained a highly poisonous substance called dioxin. It poses health hazards to people and animals, and as a very powerful poison has been found to cause deformities in fetuses.
It was banned in 1979.
This area already has a report of a high-rate of cancers. NaturChem is contracted for 2020.
Remember those beautiful red bud trees that lined Hwy. 641 N. to Paris, well, that is just what they are now, a memory. This kind of definite footprint devastates all it touches.
It could also have a very negative impact on tourism. Tourists will not travel here to see a brown zone. Everything has value, the trees, flowers, soil, there should be compensation offered to anyone that has losses and damages of their property outside of BCES’s right-of-way.
Contact Rudy Collins at the Jackson Environmental Field Office, (731) 512-1339 and your voice will be heard, because the customer is always right.
Dusty Rhodes
A.K.A. The River Rat
Camden
