Swearing off the bottle

Our article “Less-scenic byway” last week reported that the New York State Department of Transportation (DOT) has been spraying herbicides on the scenic byway roadsides to kill vegetation that impedes sight, is invasive or threatens vital structures like guide rails—even within the Narrowsburg Wellhead Protection Area. However, as the article reports, the locations sprayed are sharply downhill from the wellhead area, meaning there is no danger of runoff into drinking water.

So that’s all right, then.

Except maybe not entirely, if you look a little further.

Hundreds of thousands of tons of herbicides are sprayed into the environment every year. By definition, they are poisonous to a large segment of the ecosystem. In addition, the major feedstock for these chemicals is our dwindling supply of fossil fuels. If we find ourselves reaching first for the chemical bottle when confronted with any problem, it’s just common sense to look for other solutions first.

In addition, while it’s nice to know that the chemicals applied won’t be running directly into the Narrowsburg water supply, there are other ways they can get into the overall environment. The wellhead may not be downhill from the affected areas, but the Delaware River is. And water-soluble herbicides can enter the air along with water that evaporates from the soil, contaminating the rain; the United States Geological Survey has done studies measuring such contamination. At times, in some areas of Europe, contamination of rain by pesticides and herbicides is so high it violates drinking standards.

The three chemicals used here do seem to have been chosen carefully. All break down in less than a year. Escort XP (Metsulfuron methyl) and Oust XP (Sulfometuron methyl) are both water soluble, meaning that they do have the potential to infiltrate the environment, but we found no studies indicating that they are toxic to animals or humans. However, we note with interest that both have been banned in five counties in Colorado, while Escort XP is banned in the state of California.

Glyphosate, the active ingredient in Glystar Plus, breaks down in one to 174 days and is not easily soluble in water, meaning it won’t leach away readily from the application site. A storm that occurred shortly after application and was so heavy that it washed away soil particles would be a problem. But the DOT says it times applications to avoid that.

However, studies on the effect of application drift indicate that Glyphosate can do significant damage to surrounding vegetation up to hundreds of yards from the application site—something to avoid in a park area such as the scenic byway. And toxicity studies are mixed; while some claim no adverse impacts, others show highly negative effects on animals such as amphibians, and human studies indicate that Glyphosate exposure has a significant correlation with the incidence of non-Hodgkins lymphoma and other cancers.

One final problem with herbicides is that plants build tolerance to them; the need for heavier applications, combined with the rising cost of feedstock, means that the expense of chemical treatments can be expected to increase.

In light of these considerations, we are glad to see that Narrowsburg Water and Sewer Superintendent Scott Birney plans to explore ways to minimize use of herbicides in the wellhead protection area in the future. We would like to see the DOT do the same throughout the state.

There are other options. Until about 20 years ago, vegetation was kept under control by manual cutting. We were told that cutting was considered unsafe because of the danger of exposure to toxins in wild parsnip and other poisonous plants, but these plants do not grow at all—probably not even at most—locations treated. Moreover, given the studies mentioned above, they do not necessarily pose a greater health threat than herbicide exposure to the highway workers.

Another reason to prefer herbicides to cutting is fewer man hours and lower cost. To mitigate that factor, perhaps the state could consider tapping prison work-release programs. Expenses could also be cut by reducing the extent of vegetation treated. We understand why woody plants should be kept away from guide rails, but the overwhelming majority of the vegetation is herbaceous, and we already have a way of felling it to the ground every year: it’s called “winter.”

There may be some locations along the roadside for which there is no feasible solution but herbicides, and we would not want to see either driver or worker safety compromised. But part of being in the peak oil-, global warming-, population crisis-era is a need to take another look at ways of doing things that look cheap and easy at first glance but have unacceptable long-term costs. We think roadside maintenance may be one of those things.

Also in this issue:

• Just say ‘no’ to FFMP

Dr. Punnybone

Death Row