By Matt Johnson
South Whidbey Record
Responding to months of pressure from a group opposed to the use of herbicides on county roadsides, the Island County Public Works Department has a plan.
Written in mid-December, the department’s Herbicide Reduction Program lays out buffer areas between the herbicides the county sprays and shorelines, streams, wetlands and wells. The plan includes provisions for avoiding rare plant species and people suffering from chemical injuries.
Made public late last month when a member of the Whidbey Island No Spray coalition received a copy, the plan is getting both cautious kudos and criticism from spray opponents.
“Our response is ‘Great, now here’s how it ought to be,’ “ said Marianne Edain, a member of Whidbey Environmental Action Network and part of a group that successfully lobbied for a reduction in the county’s herbicide program in 1985.
Island County uses herbicides to kill weeds growing along county roads. Island County Commissioner Mike Shelton maintained during discussions last month that weed control is necessary to maintain visibility and safety on county roads. The only alternative is regular mowing.
Both WEAN and WINS spokeswoman Laurie Keith said this week that the plan is only a start. While it keeps herbicides away from fresh water, Puget Sound, plants and humans, the plan does not call for a specific amount of spray reduction.
Keith said county commissioners could decide to eliminate herbicides from the county’s road maintenance inventory this spring if they so choose.
“It’s not that far out of reach.By next month they have to decide if they have to buy chemicals or mowers,” she said last week.
Right now, it appears chemicals will be the choice, just less of them. Bill Oakes, the county’s public works director, said last week the county road crew members who do the spraying this year will be armed with not only sprayers, but maps of areas to avoid. The county will continue to honor posted no spray signs.
While the herbicide reduction plan is not up for negotiation, Oakes said he expects pressure for more reductions.
Oakes said the new plan goes a long way toward reducing herbicide use. He said the plan constitutes the first written herbicide procedure public works has ever used.
Keith said she and WINS will continue to pressure the county to totally eliminate herbicide use for road maintenance. Citing Thurston County as an example, she said that county does its maintenance on 1,000 miles of roads largely herbicide free for about $115,000 more per year than Island County spends for 600 miles of road maintenance.
While there are no formal negotiations of the spray program planned, WINS and WEAN will continue to push for changes. In a written response to the program, WEAN’s Steve Erickson criticized the plan for a lack of explicit goals, monitoring, and for what he called “wiggle room.”
