East Ventura Grower Allowed to Use Methyl Bromide

VENTURA — Operating under strict new rules, an east Ventura strawberry farmer can begin injecting the toxic pesticide methyl bromide into a field near dozens of homes where residents last year complained of being sickened by the potent fumigant, regulators ruled Friday.

The state Department of Pesticide Regulation notified 30 residents near a Montalvo Ranch strawberry field that grower Raul Garcia can begin to sterilize the soil on his 87-acre field at Ralston Street and Ramelli Avenue on Wednesday.

But the grower must follow a set of strict new rules formulated after state tests of Ventura weather conditions indicated that the usual buffer zone of 30 feet between fields and homes may not be wide enough to fully protect residents from pesticide vapors that could drift over them.

Under new rules, the grower cannot fumigate within 250 feet of the property line of the nearest homeowners on Lemur Street and Tamarin Avenue. Farm employees also must be at the field 24 hours a day for two days after application to make sure thick tarps that trap pesticide vapors do not tear.

And state officials promised to test the air around the field to make sure that pesticide vapors do not exceed safe levels. Similar tests were conducted this week on another strawberry field near Camarillo, where a 550-foot temporary buffer was established until results are available next week.

The east Ventura grower is limited to treating only one 10-acre patch at a time with the fumigant and must wait 36 hours before sterilizing the next patch, an unusually stiff restriction, according to Paul Gosselin, assistant director of the pesticide regulation department.

The wait between applications is intended to reduce concentrations of the pesticide vapor, but the breaks also mean that it could take more than three weeks to complete the application, rather than a few days.

“We took every one of the residents’ concerns into account in drafting these rules,” Gosselin said.

Nearby residents, who blocked fumigation for a month by appealing a county pesticide permit to the state, said Friday’s decision was less than they had hoped but better than no additional protection.

“I’m disappointed that they’re going to do it at all, that our health is going to be at risk again,” said resident Lynda Uvari, who appealed the permit. “However, 250 feet is definitely better than 30 feet.”

Despite the wider buffer zone, Uvari said she and her husband and their two young sons are vacating their Lemur Street home during the spraying--moving in with relatives or living in a motor home at the beach. They all suffered flu-like symptoms during fumigation last summer--including severe headaches, fatigue, nausea and sore throats, she said.

“This puts our children at risk, because we don’t know what the long-term effects are,” Uvari said.

Marc Chytilo, lawyer for the environmental law firm representing the residents, said he is generally pleased with the new restrictions.

“It’s an improvement, we acknowledge that,” said Chytilo, of the Environmental Defense Center in Santa Barbara. “But we don’t know if 250 is adequate.”

Gosselin said the state had no option but to approve the fumigation because the county agricultural commissioner’s office had complied with state regulations in issuing the permit.

But he said the tougher rules are warranted because state tests showed that in worst-case conditions--when there are none of the usual summer winds--vapors could linger over homes and pose a greater threat than previously thought.

But Gosselin said the county agricultural commissioner’s office monitors for such weather conditions routinely and has stopped methyl bromide injections on particularly calm days.

Methyl bromide is a highly toxic and widely used pesticide, most commonly used in strawberry fields, where it is injected about 18 inches into the soil. It is then covered with a plastic tarp for at least five days to contain the toxic fumes.

It is used on about 5,000 acres of strawberry fields in Ventura County.