Document MMMjrXj10RnVXKygpd0VYKdga

JIM WEAVER 4TH DISTRICT, OREGON committees: AGRICULTURE INTERIOR AND INSULAR AFFAIRS CHAIRMAN: SUBCOMMITTEE ON MINING, FOREST MANAGEMENT, AND BONNEVILLE POWER ADMINISTRATION JOE RUTLEDGE Administrative A ssistant Congress oftheUnited States Cotise of lcpresentatto UDashinpn, B . . 20515 November, 1983 WASHINGTON OFFICE: LONGWORTH HOUSE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON, D.C. 20515 (202) 225-6418 DISTRICT OFFICE: FEDERAL BUILDING 211 EAST 7TH AVENUE EUGENE, OREGON 97401 (503) 687-6732 EFFORTS TO STOP HERBICIDE SPRAYING CONTINUE Dear Friend: The Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management, and industrial users of phenoxy herbicides are continuing to spew dangerous chemicals into our environment. Worse, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, they continue to insist th a t their use of phenoxy herbicides is both safe and e fficien t. I am happy to report, however, th at we who oppose the reckless use of these dangerous chem icals are making progress in the fight to control th eir widespread use. GOVERNMENT KNOWS VIRTUALLY NOTHING ABOUT HERBICIDE EFFECTS Under current law, the victims of herbicide spraying are faced with the expensive and com plicated task of proving these chemicals are harmful. This law must be changed, so th a t the agencies and businesses th a t w ant to use dangerous chem icals will be held responsible for their actions. There is a simple reason for shifting the burden of proof to those who want to use phenoxy herbicides: no one has any idea of how much harm these chem icals can do in our fC environm ent. In fa c t, it has recently com e to light th a t many of th e original health and Cn safety te sts on these chem icals were com pletely inadequate. For exam ple, Cp Environm ental P rotection Agency approval of several herbicides, including 2,4-D and ^ Round-Up, was based a t least in p art on fraudulent te sts conducted by Industrial Bio-Test Laboratories. The directors of th at company were recently found guilty of criminal fraud in a tria l over the testing of these and other chem icals. In addition to this re c en t finding, a 1981 study commissioned by the EPA found th a t almost all the data used for decisions about using forest herbicides cam e from studies conducted on non-forest system s. The fa c t is, th ere is p ractically no d ata on the e ffe cts of these dangerous chem icals in the soil and w ater of our fo rests. REFORMING GOVERNMENT POLICY ON HERBICIDES It's inexcusable th at the federal government has continued to allow widespread use of phenoxy herbicides without adequate information about the chemicals' effects. Common sense dictates th at we should understand the effects of these chemicals before more unsuspecting victims are endangered. To help accom plish this, I've introduced H.R. 2799, th e "V egetation M anagement Reform A ct." If this bill passes, users of phenoxy herbicides will for th e first tim e have to prove th at the chemicals they are spraying are necessary and will not cause damage to people or the environm ent. The bill will re s tric t, and in many cases prohibit the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land M anagement from spraying phenoxy herbicides in our forests, by requiring Forest Supervisors or D istrict Managers to determ ine on a case-by-