On May 28th, 2009, approximately 125 members and other area residents showed up for the annual meeting of Carroll Electric Cooperative Corporation (CECC)at corporate headquarters in Berryville, Arkansas, at 10 am in the morning. We came to the meeting with the hope of speaking before the CECC board, management, and our member neighbors regarding our concerns surrounding herbicide spraying of utility Right of ways.

There were no introductions of the board members or Vice President / District Managers in attendance. CEO, Rob Boaz spoke briefly, followed by a short power-point presentation, and then the meeting was adjourned. The board of directors quickly exited the room, and the crowd sat stunned. The large group of members were not acknowledged. The instructions given to us in advance by CECC stated that we were welcome to attend, but we could not be on the agenda, speak, or ask questions without providing an approved petition requiring 25% (over 15,000) members approved signatures from each district, and 66% (about 45,000) signatures to pass.

After we recovered our composure, we regrouped in the meeting room sans board members, and began to tell our own stories, one at a time, for all to hear. Two reporters covered the meeting. Becky Gillete was reporting for the Lovely and Carroll County Citizen, http://www.carrollconews.com/story/1544158.html
and Ginger Shiras reported for the Harrison Daily Times. http://www.harrisondailytimes.com/articles/2009/05/29/news/doc4a20125e1b...

One coop member was allowed ten minutes to speak before the board, two other sympathetic members accompanied him into the meeting, which was held behind closed doors with two armed guards outside, and no members of the press allowed inside the meeting. Shawn Porter spoke ten minutes, answered questions, and gave each board member a folder of information about the environmental and Human health costs of herbicides and other chemicals in the environment. Then was escorted out of the office and building. The rest of the group was met outside, and the front doors of the coop were locked behind the group. Law enforcement and private armed security personnel numbered about 4.

Because of the numerous steps and measures taken to get this far, we learned something very interesting about our coop. They do not easily allow regular members to be directly involved in the policies and decision of the coop. And they go to great lengths to see that groups of concerned members are virtually shut out. That goes against the very essence and content of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association and Charter.

No word back regarding any slowdown of massive applications of mixed herbicide over thousands of miles of ROW's throughout our karst mountainous terrain. Members and low level employees are getting screwed in a number of ways. Pressure is needed to bring about change. It doesn't matter what interest or issue a member has, we all have a right to be heard. We also have a right to set priorities, examine business practices, and review executive and board compensation. We have the right to nominate and elect board members. All of those rights are being illegally denied members under the current boards and management.

Below is information on the herbicides and other chemicals of concern that are being used to control vegetation on CECC right-of-ways.

Herbicides and Adjuvants

CECC workers and contractors apply a mixture that typically consists of three herbicides and two adjuvants, with the specific mixture determined by each district. Following is the currently available list of herbicides and adjuvants to be used, including some information about each:

Accord XTR contains the active ingredient glyphosate, which is also the active ingredient in the herbicide, Roundup. Glyphosate is highly soluble, very resistant to degradation in water and moderately toxic to birds, fish, honeybees and earthworms. It is listed by PAN International as a highly hazardous pesticide.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has identified 76 species that may be endangered by glyphosate use. This is especially important here in the Ozarks due to a variety of rare and endangered species, including amphibians. Out of concern for these issues as well as human health, European Union member states are warned that, when using glyphosate, they “must pay particular attention to the protection of the groundwater in vulnerable areas, in particular with respect to non-crop uses.”

According to EPA, short-term exposure to elevated levels of glyphosate may cause lung congestion and increased breathing rates and, in long-term exposure, kidney damage, reproductive effects. Glyphosate exposure has also been associated with Parkinson’s disease. Increased adverse neurologic and neurobehavioral effects have been found in children of applicators of glyphosate, whose female partners also are at higher risk of spontaneous abortion. Some glyphosate-based formulations and metabolic products have been found to cause the death of human embryonic, placental, and umbilical cells in vitro even at low concentrations. The effects are not proportional to glyphosate concentrations but dependent on the nature of the adjuvants used in the formulation.

Milestone VM contains the active ingredient aminopyralid. Aminopyralid is highly soluble and persistent in water and has high leachability and mobility. It is moderately toxic to fish, honeybees and earthworms. Aminopyralid is also included in PAN International’s List of Highly Hazardous Pesticides.

Recently aminopyralid was at the center of public and media attention in the United Kingdom. Gardeners discovered that using manure from animals that grazed on or were fed hay from aminopyralid-sprayed roadsides caused their garden crops to fail or develop abnormally. In fact, the University of Minnosota Extension Service describes this problem in their fact sheet, "Use Caution When Harvesting and Feeding Ditch Hay."

Powerline contains the active ingredient imazapyr, which has been listed for withdrawal from the market in the European Union. It is highly soluble and moderately persistent in water. It is also moderately toxic to fish, honey bees and earthworms. Imazapyr’s potential to leach to groundwater is high and surface runoff potential is high. If imazapyr leaches down below 18 inches (where microbial activity is limited) the chemical can be expected to persist for more than a year. EPA cautions that “jeopardy” will occur to terrestrial and aquatic plant species from the use of imazapyr-based herbicides.

Tordon K has the active ingredient picloram. Picloram is a persistent herbicide that is highly leachable, very soluble in water and does not degrade readily in water. It is moderately toxic to birds, fish, honeybees and earthworms. It has also been identified as an endocrine disruptor and is listed in PAN International’s List of Highly Hazardous Pesticides. EPA’s evaluation of picloram states, “eventual contamination of groundwater is virtually certain in areas where residues persist in the overlying soil. Once in groundwater, the chemical is unlikely to degrade even over a period of several years.”

Surf Ax 100 is a surfactant that consists of nonylphenol ethoyxlate, glycols, free fatty acids and dimethylpolysiloxane. According to EPA, nonylphenol ethoxylates are “an example of a surfactant class that does not meet the definition of a safer surfactant." Nonylphenol ethoxylate breaks down in the environment into nonylphenol, which is, according to EPA, “toxic to aquatic life, causing reproductive effects in aquatic organisms." Nonylphenol is a known endocrine disruptor. Many large corporations have stopped using nonylphenol ethoxylate for this reason. For example, Unilever says, "We no longer use nonylphenol ethoxylate (NPEs). We stopped using them for environmental reasons, before they were linked to endocrine disruption."

MistTrol is a “deposition-coverage and drift retardant” with a polyacrylamide polymer as the active ingredient. Polyacrylamide degrades in the environment, forming acrylamide, a known neurotoxin. Acrylamide is also classified by the IARC as a probable carcinogen. EPA describes the health effects of acrylamide as including "damage to central and peripheral nervous systems, weakness and ataxia in legs." According to Material Safety Data Sheets for acrylamide, it has harmful effects on aquatic organisms and should not be allowed to enter waters, waste water, or soil.

Credit and gratitude to Pat Costner for gathering and assembling the above information on the herbicides and adjuvants.