Pilot program aimed at pesticide protection near schools

A historic agreement that keeps kids safe from pesticides near their schools was announced on Tuesday. The Monterey County Agricultural Commission and the Monterey Bay Central Labor Council announced the pilot program, which they say is the first of its kind in the state.

Three North County schools will now get five days of advance notice before fumigants are used within a quarter mile of the school. The schools, Ohlone Elementary, Hall District Elementary and Pajaro Middle School are all surrounded by ag fields.

There’s also a website in the works where schools, parents and teachers can get updates about fumigation and other pesticides. The county received $75,000 worth of funding from the Department of Pesticide Regulation to help develop the website and outreach program.

“There’s inherent risk when you’re a farm worker and you work in the fields,” said Cesar Lara with the Monterey Bay Central Labor Council. “There’s an inherent risk when you live next to a field that you choose to live next to a field. But the youth to our community, the backbone to our community should be protected.”

Regardless of these additions, the same precautions are still in place.

“We in Monterey County do not have applications of materials within 500 feet of a school during school hours, and none of these applications would happen when school children are present but that’s always been the practice here,” said Eric Lauritzen, Monterey County Ag Commissioner.

But some believe those practices aren’t enough.

While the Ag Commission news conference was happening, so was another. More than a dozen members of Californians for Pesticide Reform held a rally outside. They say two new reports found Latino children bear the greatest burden of pesticide risk in our state, which they say makes them more susceptible to cancer, asthma and learning disabilities.

“We are sending them to schools that are 91% Latino children schools, and we are exposing them to neurotoxins and carcinogens,” Dr. Ann Lopez with the Center for Farm Worker Families said. “Now I think this is not only unethical, this is illegal. This is outrageous.”

And the group is calling for changes on the local and state level.