MONSANTO and Round Up

Hi my friends.

Long time i wanted to write a letter about The problem that I had with MONSANTO and DEC (Department Environment and Conservation) when I was working for DEC in Western Australia.

I began working with them with a sponsor training Visa, in 2010. It was the end of the fire season ( I am bush fire fighter) and begining of prescribed burning season.

I worked first in Walpole, where i saw for the first time the containers with Round Up, and later on in Jarrahdale. At this place I had my first contact with Round Up. There were plantations of pines, and one of the jobs for DEC was to cut off and spray with Round Up the stems of Eucalyptus that were growing in the middle of the plantations.

I knew that the product was pretty bad, but I didn´t care too much because my ignorance about the risks. I just can say that there is a safety equipment to use this product, and the workers never used.

At the end of the prescribted burning season my training was over, so I stoped working with them.


Next fire season I got a job with DEC again. They contracted me at Mundaring, Perth hills district.

I have to say first that I loved the job. It was a great experience for me, because I was working with the best of the world doing prescribed burning, and it was amazing to see how the workers responsed to the danger of fire. I learnt a lot there. They work fast, and they know what they do.

But the work was not always related with fire, because also , when it was not fire, we had jobs to do in National Parks, maintenence mainly.

One of the tasks that we had to do was to spray with Round Up some kind of weeds in the middle of the National Parks.

This time I had heard more about MONSANTO, and I picked a label of the product to research at home what I was using. So the third day that I had the task to spray weeds with Round Up, I refused to use it. And my overseer was the one who did the work, while I was just looking from the distance.

Then I started to feel diferent behaviours from the workers, they started, not all of them , to call me the trouble maker. Some of them suggested to stop with my complaints about the product, if I didnt want to lose my job with DEC.

I was worried because I was seing how the workers used the product, not using the safety kit at all. And not following even the safety recomendations of MONSANTO. I saw how they filled with more than double of concentration of Round Up the containers to spray. Also they used near of water resources. Tey did not use te masks, gloves.... nothing of the safety kit.

I was worried for them and I wanted to open their eyes, because they could have been hurting themselves for long time. Supossedly they had to do a chemicals course and learn how to use this product, but not all of us did it, and anyone of them were putting the chemicals course in practic.

I tried to speak with the officers about it,. The one encharge of safety told me that he was going to read about it, but also told me that Round Up was not bad at all, and that it was aproved for the Health Department in Western Australia.

The officer encharged of Nature and Conservation, he told me that I was wrong, and also that Round Up is biodegradable. I tried to discuss with him the matter, but he didnt pay much attention to the spaniard trouble maker. I realized that he didnt know what he was talking about it, and his arrogance didnt allow him to listen anything that I was telling him. I said "no, its not biodegradable, in fact, Monsanto is not allowed to say that anymore since time ago", but he still didnt hear anything, he just was hearing himself, so my effort was useless. He was the one encharged to decide where to spray the Round Up.

So I sent an email to  the officer encharged of the safety in Mundaring. This is the email:



Hi , here I send you information about roundup, its easy to find in internet lots of links of researchs about roundup.

I know that there are not too much to do from me about this hazard, as you told me, is the department of health who decide about this matters. but I supose that if I write them, they will not listen to me, and if DEC makes a question about the hazard to the department of health, maybe they will take more seriously.

scientists around the world have proved how harmful can be this product for humans and the enviroment. One day the goverments and health departments will realize that they were doing wrong allowing this product. I think that we have to do as much as posible to ban this product faster.

Thanks

JAVIER TIERNO
http://www.gmo-free-regions.org/fileadmin/files/gmo-free-regions/GMO-Free_Europe_2010/Carrasco_ChemResToxAug2010.pdf


http://www.mindfully.org/Pesticide/Monsanto-Roundup-Glyphosate.htm (IN THIS WEBSITE THERE IS LOTS OF INFORMATION ABOUT HOW HARMFUL IS ROUNDUP)

http://www.gmo-free-regions.org/fileadmin/pics/gmo-free-regions/conference_2010/press/Carrasco_soybean_PR.pdf


http://mahakrushi.blogspot.com/2011/02/monsantos-roundup-triggers-over-40.html 

So after this message, I kept researching at home about Round Up, and I made copies of diferent researchs from diferent scientists and countries, to give to the workmates. 

They were not interesting at all about what they were using, not interested if was bad for their health and much less if it was bad for the environment, and the head of fire in the district used to do jokes about Round Up and me... 

I didnt understand the situation, I just wanted to help them, because I went there to work for the environment, and not against it, so I thougth that they would be interested, but it wasnt like that.

When I realized that anyone was listening or caring about this matter, I wrote a hazard report. These hazards reports must go to the safety meetings and they have to speak about them, and take some iniciatives to fix the problems. 

So, I wrote it, and I waited to the next safety meeting, to see if somebody from another department said something about Round Up. I was alone in my working place. 

They were commited to write a result of the hazard discusion, and to give the report to me. I was told that I would receive it. It never happen, and still I am waiting for it.

I looked for people concern about Round Up in Western Australia and I wrote a couple of emails. I received one email from Jane Bremmer, she was part of  the "Alliance for a Clean Environment Inc."

And I sent this email to the safety officer, Myles Mulvay.

This is the email and it had documents attached, that I dont know how to upload here yet.

hi Myles! i send you one email that i received about round up from this person who works for Alliance for a Clean Environment Inc here in Australia
it could be interesting

From: acejane@bigpond.com
To: hevytender@hotmail.com
Subject: RE: monsanto roundup
Date: Mon, 11 Apr 2011 10:47:59 +0800


Hi Hevy

Thankyou for you emails. We have been challenging our government agencies for many years on the over use of agvet chemicals particularly on the Swan Coastal plain and in urban environments…some councils (about 5 now) use steam instead with much success but the WALGA and DoH support the status quo and leave it to the lobbyists within local government to get away with sub standard policies on weed management. Alas it is an issue close to my families heart and health as we were unsuccessful convincing our local government to not use a class 6 herbicide within 10m of our home. Of course the whole family was poisoned as was our neighbours with four children affected and two adults in hospital…unbelievable and still I am harassed by the local parks and gardens workers because I have spoken out and made official complaints. The federal regulator the APVMA despite acknowledging our adverse impact will not stop the spraying.

We have new pesticide regulations which do not improve standards much except for notification but there is no recommendation for safer alternatives or practices.

I have attached a document our NGO has produced on Glyphosate which you are welcome to use and circulate as well as some documents from our colleagues the National Toxics Network. We held a forum late last year but I don’t think anyone for the DEC came despite being invited.

There is growing support in WA for the management of the environment without chemicals but without support from the DoH there is no power to stop the use of harmful chemicals. It sounds like you are becoming very aware of the culture of denial within our regulatory agencies with regards to the long term impacts of chemicals and their residues. All I can suggest you do is to continue to try and educate your colleagues and we are certainly working on challenging the policies that allow this legal contamination of the environment.

I would be interested to know if the land management section of the DEC are using Glyphosate Biactive? We were assured that this was the only glyphosate product used as it is not harmful to frogs. We believe all glyphosate products to be harmful in the long term including Biactive. If you are interested our steam weed technician Jonathon Grey who would be willing to present his trial studies ect where steam has been used effectively to treat weeds in the bush, rivers edge and wetland environments. I can pass on his details if you would like to speak with him. Some of the councils that use his treatments are happy to provide references and testimonials too.

You are welcome to recommend a presentation to the relevant agency from our group as we have forum presentations prepared and with Jonathon Grey and a few other community groups working on these issues we have a very good forum ready to go. We will be holding another forum in the near future in the eastern region of Perth and I will let you know the details when we are ready if you like.

I hope this has been of some help to you. There is certainly a large group of NGO’s and citizens in WA working on the issue but as always the problems lie with the regulators…as you are aware. I would be happy to speak with you anytime about how to prevent the use of herbicides in the environment and am happy to pass on my ppt if you would like to see what we have to present.

All the best,

Jane


Jane Bremmer BA (WS) Grad Dip(Prod Des)
Chair
Alliance for a Clean Environment Inc.
0432 041 397
PO Box 254
Guildford WA 6935.www.ace-wa.org
acejane@bigpond.com

So, after the safety meeting I went to speak with the head of the district about the matter. I wanted to know if they took in consideration what they were doing to the environment, and all the information that I gave them about Round Up.

He told me... "Javier, this product is the best we can use under the circunstances in WA, and if you want to keep working with us, you have to accept to use it, because when you sign your contract, you accepted the use of chemicals".

I didnt understand, again I felt sad. And again Itried to explain that I was not refusing to use Round Up for me, I tried to explain that the workers were not using it properly, and it was going to harm them, and also it was damaging the environment, wich is the opposite purpose of the Department. 

He answer me in the same way again... "Javier, this product is the best we can use under the circunstances in WA..."

Ok, I said, so I am not taking part of this and I will not work with DEC anymore.

They told me that they wanted me working two weeks more doing the prescribted burning. I said... ok, but will I have to spray that shit?  So... they let me go... I quit the job because I didnt accept to use chemicals, like my contract said.... chemicals?? when I signed the contract I thougth that chemicals meant... sunscream... paint... not something that is destroying the earth and the environment...

Our environment, our future......

 They are poisoning the soil and the water, and they are creating new plagues, because Round Up can change the genetic of the plants and create resistance to the glyphosate, so some plants can become powerplants and spread themselves like a new plague. 

There are researchs explaining how Round Up affect in the defeat of frogs, bees, birds.... its cause of miscarriages in mamals...

There are lot of imformation about it, and still many goverments in the world prefer to close their eyes, and they keep allowing GMO and Round Up. My country is one of them. Its embarasing... but I could  expect this from Spain... but when now people tell me..." oh, you have been in Australia, very ecologist country..." I understand that the people live in a bubble, just because they dont get information about what their institucions are doing... and they get cheated through media.

Hopefully somebody will fix this crazyness soon, seriously... the world dont need more institucions working against the life... The earth doesnt belong to humans, should be the opposite... but with this failing education.... where is more important to make money than to take care of the earth, Australia is going backwards, like other western societies.