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Post by ozarklady on Apr 18, 2010 19:59:16 GMT -5
Last fall, just before the normal leaf drop, the electric company came through hacking and spraying herbicides.
I was not home, or it would not have happened!
Anyhow, long story short they killed my elderberries, grapevines, and alot of raspberries and blackberries, none of which would have gotten tall enough to risk the power lines. And the tall trees that were a risk are still standing, and leafed out, and threatening the power line again!
I want to extend my garden. If I go northward, I run straight into the herbicide mess.
If I move to another location (my future garden site) I have about 20 feet and then, I am right into the herbicide affected area again!
I am really hamstrung by this mess. And I am totally unsure how I begin to clean up their mess. Do I cut down the dead things, do I try to pull them out roots and all? Do I wear gloves and a mask? How do I dispose of the murdered plants? Surely not as compost, and I won't feed it to my goats, they won't eat it now anyhow.
I read up on soil exposed to herbicides and it said to test it with some beans. I am not good at growing beans. Someone else said try it with tomatoes. Now, I am good at tomato growing, but where do I begin? Do I transplant healthy ones there, do I just plant seeds? I can grow tomatoes either way, in my garden.
Is this a concern that they sprayed? Could my soil be yuck? How do I dispose of this mess?
Have any of you had to figure out what to do in this situation?
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jcm05
Administrator
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Post by jcm05 on Apr 19, 2010 14:49:40 GMT -5
Ozarklady, apart from taking the material to the dump, I don't know how you would get rid of it. Eventually all herbicides will biodegrade and breakdown in the soil. Some slowly and others quickly. Without knowing which one they used it is hard to answer. Maybe you can contact the company and ask what they use.
Gloves and a mask can't hurt while hacking it down. I use herbicides in my yard, but not in my vegetable garden with the exception of the occasional use of glyphosate in the garden pathways. There are others here with more experience with herbicide use, but if it were me, I would try to find out what the company's herbicide of choice is. In this day and age it would not be unreasonable to request that.
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Post by ozarklady on Apr 19, 2010 17:36:01 GMT -5
I just talked to the head of spraying at the electric company.
He insists that they do not use anything that would last even 24 hours.
He was not happy that they killed elderberries, blackberries and sprayed within 6 feet of my garden, and within 12 feet of my front door.
He is coming out Wednesday to do a walk through with me. I offered him photos of what the mess looks like.
They contracted the spraying out, and seems the company they hired has violated the company policy.
He also agreed, the easement covers the air for their power lines, and I may not impede their use of it, and the first 8 feet is my land still, and they may not impede my use of that part.
So, we are going to walk and talk, and they get to haul off the trash from this mess. And I will be a No Spray area in the future. This will not happen again, short term or long term herbicide is no difference, they won't be allowed to spray again.
But, I am getting my point across. He did say, if I sell organically, it would mess up my certification... grr. I told him, I eat organically, just because I don't sell my food does not give you the right to kill it.
I am also calling other neighbors to join the fight!
He said it was basically Roundup and he will get me the sheets on it.
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jcm05
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Post by jcm05 on Apr 19, 2010 21:10:47 GMT -5
Excellent! Let us know how the visit goes.
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Post by ozarklady on Apr 19, 2010 22:39:55 GMT -5
Take a look at what I am talking about. I was up in the bed of the truck, in front of my front door and snapped this photo yesterday. The greenery on the left is a remnant only of my huge elderberry/raspberry/blackberry/grape patch. I will get photos tomorrow of the destruction just outside my garden. I avoid confrontations for the most part. But, when I have to, I can tell someone off really well, and never revert to a single profane word... That takes talent! ;D Oh I already know, he will blame the contractors, and claim they have no clean up crew, nor funds for one, and how sorry he is. Yada yada... but the point is: I want them to see their "lovely" handiwork, and know this is just not acceptable at all.
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PVP
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Post by PVP on Apr 20, 2010 7:29:06 GMT -5
I just talked to the head of spraying at the electric company. He insists that they do not use anything that would last even 24 hours. He said it was basically Roundup and he will get me the sheets on it. I don't know what he meant by "will get me the sheets on it." Maybe he meant the labels or technical descriptions of the chemicals and handling instructions of the products he SAYS they used. Big deal. The contractor must keep a detailed log of what product was used and the specific climate/weather conditions at time of use when spraying public rights-of-ways and utility easements. Ask to see the logs for the day and location of the area of concern. If they cannot produce that, they are in violation of state regulations and it gives you another ball to play.
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Post by bluelacedredhead on Apr 20, 2010 8:30:37 GMT -5
Ozarklady, My heart goes out to you. I had a very similar situation with the power company when we had a farm. They gave chainsaws to summer students who cut down a number of antique apple trees under the power lines. Those trees were feed for my horses as well as the deer population. I also had an agreement with them about herbicide use under the actual towers due to the fact that I raised sheep and horses. Someone obviously used up one of the old herbicides that was being banned, and it was several years before there was any lifeforms at all under the actual towers themselves. I had wanted to get my organic certification. Thanks to the indifference/ignorance of the workcrews they hired, that was never to be.
I am pleased to read that you are having the Supervisor out to your property to clean up the mess and discuss a settlement, even if it's a contract on paper to prevent this from happening in future. Good Luck with it.
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Post by ozarklady on Apr 20, 2010 11:05:42 GMT -5
Thanks for input everyone. Logs information is great Papavic. I want to waste as much of their time as is possible, to make the spraying not cost effective.
But, really, the damage is done, the deed is history, just have to recover.
But, how did this happen to me? I won't allow chemicals on my place. Well, it was junk mail in the envelope with the electric bill, you know all that trash you throw away without looking at, as you hunt for the bottom line...what do I owe. Well, that is how they got it. I had to opt out to keep them away. And I trashed the junk mail. And so, I never even knew that I had to opt out to keep them from putting chemicals on my property.
But, now I know, and now you know. Please contact the electric company, and the highway departments and get on the no spray list! I am even going to push it so far as to request that I be on hand when they cut anything on my property.
Learn from my mistake. Do as I say, not as I did, in order to protect yourself. If you just mind your own business and don't stay informed, you can end up getting the short end of the stick!
If nothing, but keeping this from happening to others is accomplished, then I have accomplished something here!
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jcm05
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Post by jcm05 on Apr 20, 2010 13:55:09 GMT -5
I'm guessing the "sheets" he was referring to are the MSDS.
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PVP
Tomatophile
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Post by PVP on Apr 20, 2010 15:28:07 GMT -5
Yeah, that's what I was trying to think of. But my point is, I can print MSDSs off the Net and hand them to you and say "here's what we sprayed." I'd still ask to see the spray log that the contractor is supposed to keep.
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Post by ozarklady on Apr 20, 2010 18:58:47 GMT -5
Yes, I have used those a lot at work, and couldn't think of the name of them either. Isn't it: Materials Safety Data Sheets? Or MSDS for short? Sure we had those by the case at a well known vendor that I worked at.
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