Opposition to Gypsy Moth Spray Heats Up in Ballard

Opposition to the proposed spraying of pesticides on the Ballard and Magnolia communities has increased. The Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) plans to spray pesticide Foray 48B in early May to eradicate the Asian gypsy moth.

Seattle City Councilmembers Nick Licata and Heidi Wills, State Senator Jeanne Kohl-Welles, and State Representatives Mary Lou Dickerson and Helen Sommers have joined citizen coalition group No Spray Zone in opposing the spray. No Spray Zone says that the spray is opposed by five state legislators, six doctors, eight environmental and community groups and twenty businesses in the proposed spray area.

No Spray Zone wants all the ingredients of Foray 48B to be disclosed, not only the active ingredient Bt. The WSDA claims that the inert ingredients are inactive, and therefore safe.

John Lundgren, spokesperson for the WSDA, says that the inert ingredients are proprietary in nature and cannot be revealed.

Recent reports on the effects of Bt in animals and humans counteract WSDA claims that Bt is harmless to humans. French government scientists and a May 29, 1999 edition of New Scientist have claimed that Bt caused internal bleeding, tissue damage and death in laboratory mice. These revelations prompted the scientists to call for a ban on Bt.

According to a July 6, 1999 article in The Medical Post, a strain of Bt destroyed tissue in the wounds of a French soldier in Bosnia.

When Bt was sprayed in towns in Oregon in 1991 to combat gypsy moths, the bacterium was found in clinical samples from 55 patients who had been admitted to the hospital for a variety of other reasons.

Senator Kohl-Welles recently met with Jim Jesernig, Director of the WSDA, and expressed her wish that the WSDA find another method of eradicating the Asian Gypsy Moth in the Ballard and Magnolia areas.

On April 24, Kohl-Welles met with the Governor to ask him not to sign the executive order approving the spraying. She also suggested that he meet with representatives from opposition groups.

The Senator's office also reports that the Environmental Protection Agency has to gain approval for the spraying from the National Marine Fisheries Service.

The WSDA received approval for the spraying from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service April 24, according to Kohl-Welles.

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