Methyl Bromide Use OKd for Berry Farm

Operating under an expanded buffer zone, a Camarillo strawberry farmer can inject the toxic pesticide methyl bromide into a field 100 feet from a mobile home park, state regulators ruled Friday.

The state Department of Pesticide Regulation notified residents of the Lamplighter Mobile Home Park late Friday that grower Charles Nakama can fumigate his field adjacent to the park.

But the usual buffer zone between residents’ property lines and the fumigated parcel was expanded from 30 feet to 100.

“It’s not a total victory, but it’s the best we can get right now,” said park resident Jo Ann Van Reenan.

“They came a long way from where they were in June. They said it was 30 feet, and that’s it.”

Lamplighter residents were concerned about the fumigation because of reports that numerous east Ventura residents were sickened by drifting pesticide vapor last summer.

But state regulators tested one of Nakama’s fields and found only low levels of methyl bromide at any of 17 monitors on the perimeter.

That reassured Lamplighter residents to some degree, Van Reenan said. But residents have invited analysts into their backyards to do independent tests during fumigation, Van Reenan said.

The Lamplighter ruling followed a state decision to expand the safety buffer for the Montalvo Ranch in east Ventura from 30 to 250 feet--a restriction that the farmer said forced him out of the strawberry business.

Paul Gosselin, assistant director of the Department of Pesticide Regulation, said the buffer around the Camarillo field was 100 feet instead of 250 because tests show that the proposed fumigation was not a threat to public health.

Climatic conditions on the farming plain near Lamplighter are different from those in east Ventura, with ocean breezes quickly dispersing what little pesticide vapor comes from the field, he said.

“Those are two very different parcels of land,” Gosselin said. “The wind issue at this site is much different than at Montalvo.”

The highest level of the potent field fumigant found in the air near the Lamplighter park was 55 parts per billion averaged over 24 hours, compared to a state safety target of no more than 210 parts per billion.

Methyl bromide is a highly toxic pesticide most often used on strawberry fields, where it is injected 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.