Frightening news! http://www.dispatch.com/live/conten...7/14/is-weedkiller-killing-trees.html?sid=101
Thank you very much. This is much appreciated. Though I don't use any herbicides or pesticides or chemical commercial fertilizers in the first place, this simply reinforces what I've known for years. Thanks again for the heads up!
Thanks again. Wonder what recompense they will be offering or if this is a means of PR Damage Control to avert large settlements. I don't use chemicals anyway, so for me it doesn't matter. I wish more folks wouldn't.
Here in Ohio there is a growing and continuing problem with algal blooms in lakes (20 so far). These huge surges in cyanobacteria are a result of phosphorus runoff from fertilizer use.
Have you seen the agal blooms reported off France and China ? Here's some articles: "Agal Blooms" Algal Blooms - when plants turn nasty! Algal Blooms, Harmful China's blooming algae problem that's swamping the Olympics The list is endless, but industrial agriculture and just general human filth from cities that washes regularly into storm drains has much to do with it. If you think such things don't happen in the Eco-Green European Union (posterchild of everything socialist and eco) where I reside, think again. Scandinavia has some of the worst waterways. I've yet to find a stream/river that wasn't clouded and murky, even in the rurals.
Imprelis-wise, not that I know of. However, there is a (scary) TON of info that comes up when one Google-searches 'Imprelis'. I daresay that somewhere in this info-mass lurks the answer to your question.
Here's an update to the above page. I remember a few days ago your link did work, but for some reason there is now an Error message. Here's the new page. DuPont admits herbicide is responsible for tree damage As another side point, here was an article about the dangers of many of the same chemcials used in Imprelis which requires the applicators licence, but this one approved for home gardeners. This was published back on June 22, 2011. There was some common sense suggestions, especially in the area of composting. Use of these chemicals on lawns couls also be transfered to trees and shrubery by means of grass clippings in the compost spread out under trees and shrubs. Makes sense, because other than garden where else would a composter put the compost ? Composters Concerned About New Dupont/Scotts Product That Mimics Banned Herbicides Having spent years as head landscaping supervisor in So-Cal, I can attest to the fact that the typical American Lawn does require the most amount of chemcials of any urban design. Here in Sweden I was surprised when I first came over here and noticed that the majority of people don't mind the so-called WEEDS(those undesirable plants to a beloved homogenous look) like Dandelions , etc. Interestingly, dandelions are here only in the spring and seem to melt away into the meadow most people call their lawn. They're actually quite beautiful to the landscape and yes, tasty too. Others small flowering plants now and again replace Dandelions later on in summer like various various white or purple clovers and other small rather decorative seasonal additions to the greenscape of the lawn. I find myself now even mowing around some for the effect. Many I've becomes fascinated with, which is something I'd never have done if I hadn't moved here. Over in the southern California area I was personally opposed to creating more lawns and personally hated maintaining the ones we had because of not only the necessary chemical use required to maintain what many considered perfection, but also the excessive water use requirements of those climates down south. I'm still pro natural trees and shrubs landscape, but have come along way in accepting and enjoying some of the small decorative plants that can enhance the look of a lawn. The added benefit(but often irritating) to lawn maintenence is the incredible amounts of rain which contribute to the ease of lawn care here. No real irrigation required. Never EVER thought I'd see gardeners out in pouring rain mowing and weed wacking/edging in bright florescent orange suits with complete hoods and goggles looking more like Chernobyl Nuclear hazard workers out gardening in pouring rain, but that's how things get done here. I imagine there are moments much like this up in your Pacific Northwest, or at least the way I've always pictured it the way Bill Cosby described it back in those 1960s comic bits he use to do. Remember the Seattle rain tan ?
In today's paper: http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/national_world/2011/08/12/tree-killer-imprelis-recalled.html
What the heck were they selling - "Agent Orange" ? Well the ONLY way they are going to retreive any compensation is through a lengthy class action lawsuit. No doubt Dupont has the monies to drag it out for years. Yet unbelievably there is this statement below: How in all of those 400 trials did they not have one single anomalie that hinted that more research should be done before release ??? Here is the problem and it's the same problem for all corporations who are shackled to the screaming demands of investors for profit results. They need to show some quick progre$$ with the money invested. That's the way this world works. Big corporations psychopaths and have zero percent empathy towards consumer health and safety or the environment for that matter. FEATURE-Scientist seeks to banish evil, boost empathy Hmmmm, so a lack of empathy is the root cause of all evil deeds and that this lack of empathy can be measured and treated ??? Then corporations and their boards of directors need treatment badly. Corporations are legislatively derived artificial individuals that can sue and be sued, raise funds, make political decisions, etc. They are headed by a Board of Directors that is by law duty bound to make decisions in the best interests of the corporation. Since corporations are businesses whose sole purpose is to make money, best interests are almost always those that increase profit, empathy be damned. Read below what the legal responsibility Boards of directors have and it's NOT to the consumer. Fiduciary Duties and Potential Liabilities of Directors and Officers of Financially Distressed Corporations Then there is this problem mentioned in your article: Yes I'm sure more investigations will get strung along for months if not years on this since there are no doubt some big political somebodies who Dupont contributed heavily in previous years to their election & re-election campaigns. Monsanto does this all the time. And you can bet they won't dispose properly of the product remaining. No doubt it will be sent to other 3rd world countries to be used by other Industrial world corporations in the pursuit of their profits.
August 15, 2011: EPA Bans The Sale Herbicide Linked To Tree Deaths September 8, 2011: DuPont Offers Compensation for Dead Trees
While it all sounds wonderful their claim to compensating these users and property owners, the problem is a longer more persistant one. The chemical has a long life in the environment, in actual fact it was one of the big selling points. At least 200 days they say. I'd give it around three years. Back in the 1980s when I worked with Coors Biotech, we dealt with chemcial distributors wo sold chemicals to Oil Companies to spray in their oil fields to poison and possible vegetation growth, as oil companies cannot afford grass fires. The guaranteed dates then were at least 7 and up to 10 years where nothing would germinate. The other problem of course is composting as it was reported on originally in the articles. What about shredding tree branches, leaves trunks, roots etc ? Those are other problems when considering those elements are toxic as well. You can't spread the mulch under other trees or shrubs ? How long do you actually have to wait ? Are we to see massive mounds covered by plastic as we do with contaminated soil removed from petrol stations ? If so, will the owners of those toxic piles be responsible or held liable for their proper disposal or will Dupont ? Is there actually a responsible way of disposing of this toxic vegetative mess ? It was originally promoted as being non toxic to mammals, but I can't easily find a single publication about it's mammalian toxicology, just it's effect on those evil weeds and analytical quantitation. How many here knew it was also a major hepatotoxin ? Wonder if Dupont set asside enough funds to cover future unforeseen problems and claims ? I doubt it.
Update from front page of today's Columbus Dispatch: http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2012/09/29/when-will-dupont-pay-up.html
More DuPont news: http://www.dispatch.com/content/sto...hioans-lawsuits-blame-diseases-on-dupont.html
Here is a link to the official, court-approved website for the Imprelis Class Action Settlement. . I tried clicking on 'Class 1---Property Owners', then on 'Imprelis Damage Photos and Video' (7th from top of list on left side of page). Slide show is horrifying. https://treedamagesettlement.com/
