Herbicide Use Halted After Pacific Palisades Residents Voice Concerns

PACIFIC PALISADES, CA - Complaints from Pacific Palisades residents have prompted the Department of Recreation and Parks to temporarily halt its use of Roundup herbicide in the area.

Councilman Mike Bonin, who represents the community, said he wants the city to look into alternatives to the popular weed-killer, which some say could have harmful health and environmental effects.

"I greatly appreciate that the Department of Recreation and Parks was so responsive to neighborhood concerns,'' Bonin said. "But we need to start looking at other alternatives to using this potentially dangerous chemical in
neighborhoods throughout Los Angeles.''

Bonin's motion calling for Recreation and Parks officials to consider alternatives was seconded by Councilman Paul Koretz and will be taken up in the City Council's Arts, Parks and River Committee.

Pacific Palisades residents learned recently that Roundup, which is manufactured by Monsanto, was sprayed in the bluffs under Via de las Olas and El Medio, and on the sides of lower Temescal Canyon Park, in April as part of a
routine practice that happens twice a year.

While Monsanto has pointed to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's classification of glysophate, the weed-inhibiting component in Roundup, as "practically non-toxic,'' residents said they were concerned by reports that
the chemical may be a carcinogen and could be linked to bee and Monarch butterfly die-offs.

Residents complained to the city and alerted the local newspaper Palisades News, which published a story this week on the city's use of the herbicide. Recreation and Parks officials since have agreed to stop using Roundup in the Pacific Palisades while alternatives are being explored.

--City News Service