As towns are choosing whether to join in the Gypsy Moth Suppression
Program sponsored by the New Jersey Department of Agriculture, environmentalists
are urging support for the Bt. spray program.
Towns that have weighed in are Evesham,
The N.J. Environmental Federation has been joined with 36 N.J. environmental
groups including Pinelands Preservation Alliance, N.J. Sierra Club, and N.J.
Conservation Foundation in opposing the Department of Agriculture's
proposed use of the chemical pesticide Dimilin,
classified as a probably human carcinogen, in the
Gypsy Moth Suppression Program.
Dimilin is a broad spectrum synthetic chemical
pesticide that is inappropriate for use in sensitive ecological environments
such as the Pine Barrens of Burlington, Ocean, Atlantic and
Broad scale pesticide spraying is not the answer to pest problems; it only
adds toxins to our N.J. environment that already suffers from chemical
overexposure.
Who knows what the synergistic effects are on the ecosystem from all the
chemicals in use today? Without adequate monitoring of the environment for how
these chemicals affect non target organisms, we cannot support the use of broad
spectrum chemicals in state and municipal funded programs.
Citizens of N.J. suffer high rates of cancer, birth defects, and autism from
chemicals in our environment. Please do not add to that burden by exposing us
to yet another endocrine disruptor.
Jane Nogaki
Pesticide Program Coordinator
NJ Environmental Federation
Marlton
February 5, 2008 7:48 AM