One of the items on my bucket list, was to retire on the Coast. I retired last November and here I am. Things happened shortly after I arrived. Less than ten days I started having problems with my vision, so bad that, I had a hard time reading the phone book with my eye glasses on. On the eleventh day , Feb, 6, 2014, I figured out , what was happening.
On that day, I was doing my laundry, walking back to where I live, from the laundry building… I looked toward the ocean to enjoy the view and be glad that I am now on the coast. Imagine my shock and dismay when I looked out and saw not one but three tractors spraying Pesticides… in the fields, all around the area in which I now live.
Well, I have to tell you, I put my clothes in the dryer, jumped in my car and drove around until I found the farmer and found out what he was spraying. It didn’t take long tiil I met “Wil Westbrook.” Bot only did he tell me what he was spraying, he made it very clear that he is not an organic farmer. Turns out that he was and still is spraying, “Copper Sulfate.” Mr. Westbrook did not seem concerned about our health. He did try to assure me that the levels of pesticides he was spraying were safe.
Here is a side note about PESTICIDES:
Pesticides can and will damage and tax your immune system at the same time. The damage can be both acute and cumulative. Since many toxic chemicals are stored in your fat cells and lymph glands, they can remain in the body for decades. Thus health problems can build up over a long period in ways that science doesn’t yet fully understand. Symptoms of a weakened immune system, may include just to name a few : ability to combat ordinary infections, skin rashes, depression, frequent infections and fever.
SEE TOXICOLOGICAL effects of COPPER SULFATE. Having said all of this , I think it is safe to say that THAT THERE IS NO SAFE LEVEL FOR SPRAYING ANY POISON. IE. PESTICIDES.
I believe people need to know what is making them sick. If they drive from Brookings to Crescent City on a day of spraying and their eyes are watering by the time they get to Crescent city, they need to know why. I believe the community needs to get organized to address this issue and demand changes.
Mark McCoy
Smith River, Calif.
Hello Mark, Thank you for your letter to the editor. I totally agree with you. I have researched the effects of pesticides in depth years ago and created a research paper about it which anybody can read, its in The Brookings Newspaper: http://nicolareddwooddforest.wordpress.com
We had a similar encounter as what you described, with the Lily Field farmer, I forgot his name, we wanted to buy his property, we asked him whether he used pesticides and he Proudly said yes. That whole area is saturated with pesticides and it takes decades for this stuff to become disintegrated. So we didn’t buy his property. Why are so many people so darn detached from Life? I hear pro life all the time, but I don’t see pro life happen. Pro life means For life and in my life For life means For All life on Earth. When does this outlook finally get accepted by the community?
Glad to see that more life conscious people are moving now to the area. Thank you so much for sharing your information with people. I will share your letter on Google Plus and Tumbler. Best wishes from Nicola