The guys decided they were going to impress the heck out of me and re-rinse the containers. They drove to a site that was already treated with pesticide, where they knew there could be absolutely no problem, and re-rinsed those containers. Melissa Martell of the county Hazardous Materials Unit confirmed that she had been expected by the Winter Express team on Dec. 11. And Paul Holzberger, agricultural commissioner, said he was confident that Winter Express is a responsible sprayer. But Patty Clary of Californians Against Toxics said that her organization has received many complaints about Winter Express from timber company workers who are reluctant to complain publicly.
Some contractors are more sloppy than others.
Imagine a person with a backpack full of several gallons of sloshing pesticide. They're pumping the container with one hand, using a spray wand with the other, and they're walking on clear cuts with no paths and forest debris all over. Clary also pointed to a larger concern over the safety of spraying in general. Agriculture department data she cited shows several timber companies used triple the amount of herbicides in 1996 than they did in 1995. Chemicals accumulate in streams, said Clary, and plant species that compete with the conifers are killed off.