Garden Club News

22 June 2005

For safety reasons, I feel compelled to make a few comments. 

First, my credentials.  I was formerly the Chief of Environmental Toxicology 
for the State of Maryland and sat on the Governor's Pesticide Council.  
During that time, we dealt with some herbicide application issues and had 
presentations from the electric companies on their practices.  

I think there are some potential issues here for the gardeners.  My guess is 
that the herbicides they are using are NOT registered for application to 
food producing plants. Depending on what they are using, there may be 
lingering issues for the consumption of anything produced by the plants they 
have applied the material to, if not also the soil.  That may mean that 
bamboo cannot be harvested for a season(s) and that the blackberries, grapes 
(if they get treated) may suffer from the same problem. 

For safety reasons, someone should obtain an MSDS for the material used and 
a diagram of where it was applied.  That should be taken to an appropriate 
expert, to obtain advice on whether this is an issue.  I wonder if the NASA 
safety office can help.

I think it is very unfortunate that the garden club was not notified and that 
no signs have gone up to warn that chemicals have been applied. 

Kevin Novo-Gradac



Gardeners:

John Burris talked to the pepco crew and learned what pesticide they are 
using:  Garlon 4.  A fact sheet is attached.  If you want the MSDS or any 
other information, you can find it at the manufacturer's 
website:   http://www.dowagro.com/ivm/forestry/prod/garlon4.htm

A bright green dye is mixed with the herbicide, so it will be obvious where 
it is applied.  As far as I can tell from the fact sheet, any areas sprayed 
with the herbicide should be considered contaminated for the remainder of 
this growing season.  My uneducated impression from the literature is that 
the land will be usable next season.

Anne-Marie Novo-Gradac