I am compelled to respond to “Harvesting
Poison” (HCN, 9/29/03: Harvesting Poison), as the article
misrepresents what I said in my interview with the author.
I did not say that every time I go out I see people spraying too
close to unprotected workers. What I said was that every time I go
out I can find violations of pesticide-related laws. I was not
specific as to the exact violations that I could find. These could
relate to storage, record-keeping, labeling, licensing, posting, or
spray drift, among many others.
I did not say the
re-entry restrictions of the Worker Protection Standard are weak or
rarely enforced. What I did say was that, given the Washington
State Department of Agriculture’s limited resources and
complaint-driven enforcement practice, we don’t often
encounter re-entry violations.
I did not say that we are
a police agency. I said that our job is to enforce the laws
pertaining to pesticides and that we should be looking for problems
like the police do (i.e. pre-emptive enforcement). I did not say
that it “never” happens; I said that it seldom happens.
Some pre-emptive enforcement is done through inspections and a
small amount is done from observing violative acts while
investigators are in the field.
What I said in regards to
the department’s enforcement policy is that a person can have
three or more violations before there is a license suspension or
fine. I explained that verbal or written warnings as well as
Notices of Correction could be issued prior to a license suspension
or fine. I also explained that for serious violations, such as
human exposures or significant crop or property damage, the
department can go right to fines and/or license suspensions without
first issuing a Notice of Correction.
I never said I
viewed my job as being a “personal struggle.” My
agenda, if it can be so called, is to promote the safe and legal
use of pesticides in Washington. Everything I do revolves around
that goal.
HCN’s characterization of the regulatory
system does not represent what I said and believe. In the five
years that I have worked with the Washington State Department of
Agriculture, I think the federal and state regula-tory support of
farmworkers has been improving. Regulatory change is often slow,
but it is changing, and the change will improve farmworker
protection.
David Zamora
Agricultural Chemical
Specialist,
Pesticide Management Division,
Washington State Department of Agriculture
Olympia,
Washington
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Misquoted on pesticides.
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