Marjie Lundstrom: A bounty of apathy as farm workers plagued by pesticides
By Marjie Lundstrom -- Bee Columnist - (Published May 22, 2004)
They're still getting sick in Kern County. And whatever the excuses, whatever the reasons, whatever the rationale this time around, it's becoming clear that business as usual isn't working - and some of California's poorest, most vulnerable workers are getting hurt.
Again and again.
Last Saturday, I told you about the May 2 mass poisoning of at least 19 farm workers when a cloud of highly toxic pesticides sprayed over a potato field drifted into a peach orchard where a large crew was laboring.
Given the number of ill workers taken to hospitals - and the toxicity of the brew, notably methamidophos - the state Department of Pesticide Regulation promised to closely monitor the county's investigation, which could result in hefty fines.
Then, lo and behold, on the very morning that column appeared, more farm workers were getting sick at a Kern County grape farm.
Again, the apparent culprit: pesticide exposure.
"The leaves were all wet, but the man told us it was just dew," said Ramon Hernandez, 29, who was working in the field with about 20 others last Saturday when he suddenly felt nauseated. His head ached, his eyes and throat were irritated and he and the rest were "all wet with that chemical stuff."
Hernandez was among five taken to a clinic.
Investigations into both incidents are continuing, but a reasonable person has to ask: What's going on here?
"These things happen all the time to individuals, but to have these mass poisonings is more unusual," said Marc Grossman, United Farm Workers of America spokesman. "To have them so close in time and a short distance from each other is very disturbing."
But maybe they're what it will take to force change.
Maybe the vision of five-months-pregnant Bibiana Torres, exposed May 2 to the highly toxic Monitor 4, will get someone's attention. Perhaps lawmakers will note the story of Maria Guevara, a mother of two whose heart now beats wildly as she climbs her apartment stairs after her brush with the same pesticide.
Maybe timing really is everything, even with tragedy.
As it happens, next Tuesday is the UFW's lobbying day at the Capitol, where farm workers and activists will press for passage of a new bill by Sen. Dean Florez, D-Shafter. (Florez's hometown is near the sites of both recent pesticide exposure cases, as well as more widespread incidents several years ago in Earlimart and Arvin.)
Florez's bill, which deals specifically with pesticide drift, would establish a fund to help pay the medical expenses for those exposed. It would be funded by penalties and settlements assessed to violators. The bill would also mandate more training for emergency and medical workers in those counties with heaviest pesticide use.
"In the general public, farm worker pesticide drifts are unfortunately seen as part of the harvest," said Florez. "They basically say, 'Well, that's going to happen, they're farm workers, they work out in the field and that's to be expected.' "
Florez knows it sometimes takes the face of human suffering, plus press attention, to shake such ambivalence. In 1999, after a van packed with farm laborers crashed in Fresno County, killing 13, the Legislature passed a Florez bill requiring seat belts in all farm-labor transportation vehicles.
Florez's new bill, of course, deals with pesticide poisonings and their treatment after the fact. But other ideas may find new impetus in the wake of these illnesses. The California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation has long tried to get a law requiring growers to post the chemicals that have been sprayed on fields, and precisely when.
Kern County's preliminary investigation suggests the required wait period was observed last weekend, when workers were exposed to ProGibb Plus 2X, a plant growth regulator.
Ramon Hernandez isn't convinced, as he and others described the vines as soaking, with foam on the ground.
His headaches have subsided, but new problems loom. He and three others who went to the clinic suddenly are without work. They are told things are slow, but they suspect otherwise.
"I'm very worried, because I'm the one to feed my family," said Hernandez, a married father of two.
He is afraid of getting cancer.
So tell him - and Bibiana and Maria and all the rest - that it's just part of the harvest.
By Marjie Lundstrom -- Bee Columnist - (Published May 22, 2004)
They're still getting sick in Kern County. And whatever the excuses, whatever the reasons, whatever the rationale this time around, it's becoming clear that business as usual isn't working - and some of California's poorest, most vulnerable workers are getting hurt.
Again and again.
Last Saturday, I told you about the May 2 mass poisoning of at least 19 farm workers when a cloud of highly toxic pesticides sprayed over a potato field drifted into a peach orchard where a large crew was laboring.
Given the number of ill workers taken to hospitals - and the toxicity of the brew, notably methamidophos - the state Department of Pesticide Regulation promised to closely monitor the county's investigation, which could result in hefty fines.
Then, lo and behold, on the very morning that column appeared, more farm workers were getting sick at a Kern County grape farm.
Again, the apparent culprit: pesticide exposure.
"The leaves were all wet, but the man told us it was just dew," said Ramon Hernandez, 29, who was working in the field with about 20 others last Saturday when he suddenly felt nauseated. His head ached, his eyes and throat were irritated and he and the rest were "all wet with that chemical stuff."
Hernandez was among five taken to a clinic.
Investigations into both incidents are continuing, but a reasonable person has to ask: What's going on here?
"These things happen all the time to individuals, but to have these mass poisonings is more unusual," said Marc Grossman, United Farm Workers of America spokesman. "To have them so close in time and a short distance from each other is very disturbing."
But maybe they're what it will take to force change.
Maybe the vision of five-months-pregnant Bibiana Torres, exposed May 2 to the highly toxic Monitor 4, will get someone's attention. Perhaps lawmakers will note the story of Maria Guevara, a mother of two whose heart now beats wildly as she climbs her apartment stairs after her brush with the same pesticide.
Maybe timing really is everything, even with tragedy.
As it happens, next Tuesday is the UFW's lobbying day at the Capitol, where farm workers and activists will press for passage of a new bill by Sen. Dean Florez, D-Shafter. (Florez's hometown is near the sites of both recent pesticide exposure cases, as well as more widespread incidents several years ago in Earlimart and Arvin.)
Florez's bill, which deals specifically with pesticide drift, would establish a fund to help pay the medical expenses for those exposed. It would be funded by penalties and settlements assessed to violators. The bill would also mandate more training for emergency and medical workers in those counties with heaviest pesticide use.
"In the general public, farm worker pesticide drifts are unfortunately seen as part of the harvest," said Florez. "They basically say, 'Well, that's going to happen, they're farm workers, they work out in the field and that's to be expected.' "
Florez knows it sometimes takes the face of human suffering, plus press attention, to shake such ambivalence. In 1999, after a van packed with farm laborers crashed in Fresno County, killing 13, the Legislature passed a Florez bill requiring seat belts in all farm-labor transportation vehicles.
Florez's new bill, of course, deals with pesticide poisonings and their treatment after the fact. But other ideas may find new impetus in the wake of these illnesses. The California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation has long tried to get a law requiring growers to post the chemicals that have been sprayed on fields, and precisely when.
Kern County's preliminary investigation suggests the required wait period was observed last weekend, when workers were exposed to ProGibb Plus 2X, a plant growth regulator.
Ramon Hernandez isn't convinced, as he and others described the vines as soaking, with foam on the ground.
His headaches have subsided, but new problems loom. He and three others who went to the clinic suddenly are without work. They are told things are slow, but they suspect otherwise.
"I'm very worried, because I'm the one to feed my family," said Hernandez, a married father of two.
He is afraid of getting cancer.
So tell him - and Bibiana and Maria and all the rest - that it's just part of the harvest.
