Caltrans looks at options for weed abatement other than using herbicides.
By Melonie Magruder / Special to The Malibu Times
When local resident Julie Simpson learned that toxic herbicides were being sprayed alongside Highway 23 in Decker Canyon, an area labeled by the city of Malibu and the California Coastal Commission as an Environmentally Sensitive Habitat Area, or ESHA, she took action.
“I found out that they were spraying Roundup, Isoxaben and Pendulum (2g),” Simpson said. “All of these are known to be harmful to fish, birds and other wildlife. And it all just runs off into the ocean.”
However, Simpson had difficulty simply determining whose jurisdiction the weed abatement program fell within.
“I called the California Coastal Commission, Heal the Bay, the National Park Service, the county and the city of Malibu,” she said. “Nobody said they could help.”
At times narrow and serpentine, Highway 23 runs up Decker Canyon between Charmlee Wilderness Park and Leo Carrillo State Park. Being a state Highway, legal jurisdiction, and the highway’s safety and road maintenance, falls to Caltrans.
“Weed abatement is a county-wide problem,” said Ron Kosinski, the head of Environmental Planning for District 7 at Caltrans. “And whenever you talk about environmental impact, you must look at the long-term versus the short-term solution.”
In the past, this range included chemical application of pesticide to weed whacking.
Kosinski continued, “In fact, we’ve been working with a pilot program for teams of goats to control brush growth. So far, it’s been successful and we want to expand this effort. Caltrans maintenance offices work with our biology department to determine what is the best course of action, especially in environmentally sensitive areas.”
Kosinski said that county Fire Departments are “constantly on top of us to keep brush clear.” But easements on either side of state roadways normally run less than 10 feet and, in areas like Decker Canyon, roadway brush growth flourishes. For this, the county Department of Public Works takes over.
DPW spokesman Gary Bozé said the county “always tries to weigh the advantages of chemical versus manual abatement and if there are other environmental considerations, we will avoid chemical clearance.”
The California Coastal Act contains provisions for an increased level of protection for resources defined as ESHAs, stating that: “Environmentally sensitive habitat areas shall be protected against any significant disruption of habitat values, and only uses dependent on those resources shall be allowed within those areas.”
Heal the Bay and Santa Monica Baykeeper have both been involved in watchdog efforts to prevent contamination of watersheds from toxic chemical run-off.
Dave White, Public Affairs officer for Caltrans said, “Overall, Caltrans has vastly reduced its chemical usage. Along Highway 23, we spray one time a year, four feet on either side of the highway.”
White confirmed that Caltrans had contracted with the L.A. County Agricultural Department recently to spray in Decker Canyon.
“We used Roundup, Gallery and Pendulum-all legal, EPA-approved herbicides-in their lowest concentrations and we don’t spray within 25 feet of creeks,” he said. “This is to protect a fire strip that is narrow and dangerous. Gallery and Pendulum are broad spectrum, pre-emergent herbicides that bind to the soil and eventually break down. They shouldn’t be flowing into watersheds.”
However, opponents of chemical herbicides say that studies document the toxicity to wildlife and amphibians of glyphosate, the primary ingredient in Roundup. The EPA, however, states on it Web site that the chemical does not tend to accumulate in aquatic life. Other studies show that Isoxaben, the active ingredient in the herbicide Gallery DF, affects the blood chemistry and reproductive systems of lab animals. Pendimethalin, the active ingredient in the commercial herbicide Pendulum 2g, is a suspected carcinogen and endocrine disruptor.
Melina Watts of the Regional Conservation District for the Santa Monica Mountains said that a solution to the problem of weed abatement on public lands is sometimes a simple matter of negotiation between the responsible authority and concerned residents.
“When they were doing similar weed abatement programs in Topanga Canyon, we were concerned,” Watts said. “But the Topanga Creek Watershed Council got together with the DPW and we worked out a non-toxic, manual eradication program. You have to look at the true cost differential between chemical spraying and something like weed whacking. Sometimes there are affordable environmentally conscious solutions.”
Watts said that the conservation district is working with the DPW on solutions to chemical weed abatement in eco-sensitive areas throughout Malibu and that public support from citizens will encourage county officials to take action. She congratulated Simpson on her pro-active stance to this issue.
“We need to thank her for being so alert in bringing this important issue to the forefront,” Watts said.