Public Event by Safe Ag Safe Schools
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2022 AT 8:30 AM – 12:30 PM
8:30 AM at 1428 Abbott St. Salinas; 10 AM at 168 W Alisal, Salinas
History tells us the Ag Commissioner and the Board of Supervisors need to be pushed by public pressure to reduce pesticide threats.
You can help this community effort by participating in all or some of three events on Tuesday, September 27th:
#1 8:30 – 9:30 am, 1428 Abbott St., Salinas: Delegation and Delivery of a community letter to the Ag Commissioner at his office.
#2. 10:00 – 11:15 am, Monterey County Government Center, 168 W. Alisal, Salinas: Public Comment period. Call for protections from cancer-causing 1,3-D (Telone) and for a new Ag Commissioner who will prioritize public health and meet with the public (Commissioner Henry Gonzales is retiring at the end of December).
#3. 11:30 am, outside Monterey County Government Center: SASS News conference.
What do we want?
✓ Reduce the air-concentration of the cancer-causing pesticide 1,3-D (Telone) to the level our State scientists say is safe
✓ Web-post the Notices of Intent (NOIs) to apply 1,3-D so the community can take precautions to avoid exposure
✓ Appoint a new Ag Commissioner who will act on science to protect the health of Monterey County residents
State toxicologists at the Office of Health Hazards Assessment (OEHHA) have issued an official “safe harbor level” — an exposure level that is safe from causing cancer – for one of the most used cancer-causing pesticides in our region: 1,3-dichloropropene (1,3-D), usually seen under the brand name Telone. But that safe harbor level has been exceeded in every single year of testing at the Ohlone Elementary school air monitor (one of only six active pesticide air-monitors in California), which started in 2012; meaning the 1,3-D air concentration has been at or above lifetime cancer-causing levels … at an elementary school! The safe harbor level is 0.04 parts per billion (ppb). The average 1,3-D air-concentration at Ohlone Elementary has been 0.10 ppb since 2012 – two-and-a-half times more than the state government toxicologists say is safe.
Can we count on you to help push the pesticide regulators on the 27th? Email or text back, or visit our facebook event announcement at https://www.facebook.com/events/512761803995418?ref=newsfeed.
In solidarity,
Yanely Martinez yanely@pesticidereform.org
Mark Weller mark@pesticidereform.org
The Monterey Peace and Justice Center 