PORT ANGELES — To spray or not to spray?
The question of whether Clallam County will use herbicides to kill stubborn noxious weeds will be answered by the three commissioners after they digest copious testimony on the subject.
A public hearing on a proposed ordinance that would allow herbicides as one means to control noxious roadside weeds and other non-native, invasive plants was continued after more than three hours Tuesday.
Nearly 100 showed up for the hearing,
“Noxious weeds know no boundaries,” said Cathy Lucero, Clallam County noxious weed coordinator.
“State law requires control of noxious weeds on both public and private property, not just because they want to make another law, but because these things affect people in many ways,” she said.
“The county has not been able to achieve compliance on roadsides using all the methods that are currently allowed.”
Sixteen of 28 public speakers said they would support at least limited spraying of Roundup or other type of herbicide for troublesome noxious weeds that can’t be controlled by mowing or hand pulling.
About two dozen others had left the hearing by the time they were called to speak. Twenty-nine had submitted written comments by 9 a.m.
The hearing on the “Integrated Roadside Weed Management” ordinance was continued to allow commissioners to discuss the public testimony in a future work session.
“We’ll hold open the hearing record until we schedule this ordinance for an upcoming work session, whenever that may be,” Board Chairman Jim McEntire said.
“My supposition from that is that we won’t proceed to final action on the ordinance today.
“We’ll wait until we digest the hearing comments and so forth, and I’ll rely on staff to bring that back at the proper moment.”
Citizens who wish to add written comments to the record can do so by clicking www.clallam.net/bocc/drafts.html.
The purpose of the ordinance is to give Clallam County another tool to fulfil its mandate to control noxious weeds and other aggressive plants along its 500-mile road system.
“We need all the tools at our disposal to do it right,” Lucero said.
Noxious weeds along county roads are presently mowed by the road department or pulled by inmate work crews, Lucero and others.
“Mowing is ineffective against certain noxious weeds,” Lucero said.
Common noxious weeds include garlic mustard, poison hemlock, tansy ragwort, scotch broom, wild carrot, meadow knapweed and Canada thistle.
If approved, the ordinance would result in an annual work plan initially developed by Lucero, County Road Engineer Ross Tyler and the regulatory Noxious Weed Control Board.
The ordinance would update a 1990 resolution that banned herbicides. Herbicides would be used to supplement existing control methods, not supplant them, Lucero said.
The noxious weed ordinance only applies to state-listed noxious weeds. It does not apply to common weeds like dandelions and other vegetation, Lucero has said.
Speaking on behalf of the Sierra Club North Olympic Group and the Olympic Environmental Council, Darlene Schanfald said she opposed the use of herbicides to manage roadside vegetation.
According to research provided by Schanfald, 11 of the 28 state-approve herbicides have been linked to cancer and birth defects, 17 have been linked to kidney and liver damage, 14 have caused reproductive disorders and many others are toxic to birds, bees, fish and other aquatic species.
Glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup and other weed killers, leaches into groundwater and surface water and can contaminate human supplies, Schanfald added.
She asked commissioners to reject the ordinance and to form an advisory board to help Lucero draft a weed-control plan that “does not use poisons.”
“If we don’t have a safe environment, we all die,” Schanfald said. “It’s that simple.”
Other supported the use of herbicides to control noxious weeds.
“As farmers, as community members, we don’t want to see this come to our parcels,” said Sheila Miller, a member of the Noxious Weed Control Board and former Clallam County Community Development director.
“We don’t want to see this farther along our roads. We don’t want to look like Mason County.”
Shelley Taylor challenged those who object to herbicides to organize work parties to pull invasive scotch broom by hand or weed wrench.
“Clallam and Jefferson counties here on the Peninsula do not have the manpower, nor the funds, to perpetually physically remove millions of plants before they yet again go to seed,” said Taylor, who has fought scotch broom in her neighborhood for 10 years.
“We need to execute an eradication program to begin right away.”
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5072, or at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
