Caltrans' Herbicide Use
Caltrans annually applies a pre-emergent herbicide, Simazine, in a formulation called Predict, from October 15 to April 15. The rest of the year, every year, they apply the post-emergent herbicide, Roundup. EBPA presented the mayor of Oakland, city council members and other city officials with a toxicological profile for Simazine back in January of 2005 in a packet related to their wildifire pesticides proposal as well as this toxicological profile of Roundup and a couple months later an expanded toxicological profile for Roundup. Early in 2005 we were told that Pendimethalin was being used. Products are often retired for use temporarily by agencies due to plant, insect, or other resistance, and sometimes are brought back again for later use.
Caltrans' Pesticide Spraying - Oakland Hills
Photos by Paul Goettlich, mindfully.org
Caltrans washing down the road with herbicide - 11/20/2003 on service road near Caldecott Tunnel.
Herbicide warning label on back of tank truck. "I spoke to the guys on the trucks that day Caltrans was washin' down the road with herbicide. I ask them if they knew what they were spraying, even though it was taped to the back of the truck. None knew. None had any sort of precaution. And the cars going by had no idea what was going on. It may as well have been water that was being sprayed.: (P.G.)
Caltrans' Great Wall Of Poison
Caltrans work on 580 near Oakland Zoo
photo credit: Ingrid Pollyak