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Post by leahchuchdavis on Feb 21, 2017 14:00:48 GMT
Hi everyone,
I am curious what is the status on educating/fighting the spraying of pesticides/herbicides and other chemicals on land around here?
Who are the main culprits? What kind of contact has been made to stop it?
Is this a good place for us to begin our focus or no?
Looking forward to your thoughts on this critical matter.
~Leah
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Post by Rachell on Feb 21, 2017 14:24:45 GMT
French Broad Electrical Cooperative is responsible for managing ALL the area under ALL the power lines in the whole county. I have spoken to them and they just can not afford to manage the brush with manpower so instead they opt for a combination of manpower and chemicals. IF you can demonstrate to them that you are able to keep the area under powerlines on your property clear, they will agree to not spray those areas. Even if you tell them you are an organic homesteader or that you keep bees it is not enough to keep them from spraying. They just have to to manage all the lines. But I have found that if you erect some fencing and stick some goats under the lines, that does the trick.
IMHO, FBEC is not an enemy we need to fight. They are a business trying to supply OUR demand for power. If anything, we ought to aim to educate them and help them not need to spray. Ya know?
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Post by leahchuchdavis on Feb 21, 2017 14:33:36 GMT
Certainly! Yes, that's the info I needed to know that I did not know!
Then I guess the next step would be to find out who lives by the poles and how we can support getting fences and goats going? I don't want any of my neighbors to be sprayed!
Even though FBEC may be the most involved, this education can still be offered to individuals, as well. I've heard of others who still use RoundUp for things around the house and such.
I'm just looking for something that is important to all of us that we can start focusing on and connecting around. If this isn't it, that's fine I'm open to healthy change initiatives!
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Post by pietra on Feb 21, 2017 15:11:23 GMT
We are finally finishing all the fencing on our power line this year after 3 years. I'm excited. As we finish our property we are hoping to keep going on our neighbors property.
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Post by Natalie Boone on Feb 21, 2017 16:06:57 GMT
There is a brush crew that you can hire privately that is willing to manage your ROW to FBEMC standards to ensure that they will not spray your land. The crew will put up no spray signs throughout your ROW as well as give your property location and name to FBEMC to help them know what has been maintained properly.
You can contact them at (828)209-3077 or wncjcm@gmail.com
If you cannot maintain the ROW to their standards, they will spray regardless of what you ask them not to do. If there is to be a power outage throughout the span on your land, they have to be able to get proper vehicles through the terrain without problems to fix the outage. That's why they are such sticklers about the maintenance.
You really can't fight this issue. It is exponentially cheaper for them to spray than to hire crews to brush cut manually.
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Post by Jess Ames on Feb 21, 2017 18:07:56 GMT
DOT also uses tons of herbicides to spray roadsides and bridges (hello, waterways).
I have spent years talking with the manager of FBEMC, as have other Mad Co residents, about the dangers of glyphosates, but we have generally been met with a stubborn unwillingness to even acknowledge the problem. I regularly see crews (mostly Mexicans) spraying with NO MASKS. They often spray right into creeks-I wish I had filmed these incidents.
Anyway, maybe if more people contact FBEMC and DOT to share concerns and the latest scientific findings re:glyphosates and cancer, liver disease, etc...they will eventually have to wake up.
In the meantime, we maintain our own ROW and bought Do Not Spray signs to deter DOT.
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Post by Caroline Hummer on Feb 22, 2017 1:43:28 GMT
We too were visited the year before last with the herbicide crew and despite attempting to stop them, calling the FBEMC office and even talking to some sort of chemical rep for the company, we were still covered up with glyphosate. They sprayed awfully close to our bee hives, killed a ton of really low lying plants and none of the workers were wearing even decently protective clothing-the chemicals were literally dripping down their arms.
The Right of Way Stewardship Council seems like at least a step in the right direction, though it does support some herbicide use, it seems to at least require some sort of responsibility on the part of the power company. From the website: "The Right-of-Way Stewardship Council (ROWSC) is an accreditation program that establishes standards for responsible right-of-way vegetation management along corridors. The program promotes the application of Integrated Vegetation Management (IVM) and best management practices to utility vegetation managers in order to maintain power system reliability and address ecological concerns."
I think that, since Asheville is "Bee City" stopping the use of chemicals known to kill bees is a no brainer...
And yea, seeing it sprayed into the creeks is horrifying.
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