[BoulderCouncilHotline] Re: Glyphosate application on Open Space?????

[Abernathy, Rella]

Dear Councilmember Morzel,



I'm so sorry to hear about your experience on the Four Mile Creek Greenway, and we will do all we can to prevent something like this from happening again.



After speaking with the crew member who was working at the site, I learned that she was treating a few small areas of tall oatgrass between the creek and the path. The path was posted with pesticide notification signage, but due to multiple entry points, some were missed. Though it's rare for an herbicide application to occur near a public path or trail, staff will review posting procedures to ensure that the public has adequate notice if an application occurs. Vegetation management staff have completed treatments in that corridor for the year and will focus remaining efforts on mapping and monitoring as part of the tall oatgrass control strategy.



City staff are committed to reducing and eliminating pesticides as much as possible and have worked hard on eliminating most pesticide use in urban areas. Natural lands staff do all they can to manage wildlands with as few chemical inputs as possible and have been evaluating alternatives to glyphosate for the few cases where it's currently allowed.



The city's glyphosate policy has evolved over time, so I'll provide some clarification of the history and where we currently are. The city manager banned the use of Roundup and other formulated products in 2012 due to concerns about environmental and human health issues with glyphosate and its formulated products. Studies showed that the adjuvants (e.g. wetting agents and surfactants) or "inert" ingredients had higher levels of concern than the active ingredient at that time. Staff was allowed to use products that had no additives (e.g., Rodeo) in limited circumstances. This applied to all properties - both urban and natural.



Urban Glyphosate Policy

After 2015, the city ended urban uses of glyphosate when the World Health Organization categorized glyphosate as a probable human carcinogen. It is far more complicated to replace glyphosate than most people would expect. Non-chemical methods, such as hand-pulling, are extremely expensive. Organic herbicides are also expensive, require repeated applications and aren't very effective, particularly on larger weeds and grasses. The city's IPM program is coordinating and sharing ideas for alternatives with other progressive cities on the West Coast that are also trying to phase out glyphosate use. With community expectations for the aesthetic appearance of medians and other public areas such as parks, and constraints from budget cutbacks and the cost of manual labor, the city is left with few tools for weed management in urban areas. Our staff is doing the best they can to maintain these areas without glyphosate or other synthetic pesticides.



Pesticide Use in Natural Areas

The vast majority of natural lands are managed without pesticides, and glyphosate is only used under specific circumstances. The scale of the city's natural lands portfolio and the complexities of site access make it difficult to eliminate all herbicide use. The least toxic pesticide that is approved by the IPM Coordinator is selected in the event that an herbicide application is made.



Tall Oatgrass

In the case of tall oatgrass, since 2009 OSMP staff has been monitoring and developing non-chemical control methods to manage tall oatgrass. We've seen some success with this approach. Currently tall oatgrass is on 270 acres of OSMP natural lands and risk models indicate 18,500 acres of OSMP are at risk of invasion. OSMP hired a consultant to develop a tall oatgrass management strategy in 2017. The consultant and city staff determined that herbicide spot treatment was needed in conjunction with non-chemical approaches to contain the spread of tall oatgrass. Staff used the least toxic recommended herbicide in test plots and initial results found it was ineffective at the suggested rate. Staff then decided to conduct limited glyphosate treatments until additional trials with other methods could occur.



In conclusion, the city has eliminated glyphosate use in urban areas and is working to phase it out in natural areas. We can explore the feasibility of eliminating remaining glyphosate uses on natural lands and provide council with options and tradeoffs. Since this is the busiest time of the season and will require a substantial amount of analysis from field staff, we may not be able to provide a formal review until the fall. In the meantime, staff will review any planned glyphosate applications for this summer and continue to explore other treatment approaches.



Please feel free to contact me with any questions.



Thanks,

Rella


Rella Abernathy
Integrated Pest Management Coordinator
[Planning,%20Housing%2]
O: 303-441-1901
abernathyr at bouldercolorado.gov<mailto:abernathyr at bouldercolorado.gov>

Department of Planning, Housing + Sustainability
1739 Broadway | PO Box 791 | Boulder, CO 80306
BoulderColorado.gov/IPM<http://www.bouldercolorado.gov/>





-----Original Message-----
From: Morzel, Lisa <MorzelL at bouldercolorado.gov>
Sent: Thursday, May 24, 2018 1:12 PM
To: HOTLINE <HOTLINE at bouldercolorado.gov>; Council <council at bouldercolorado.gov>; Brautigam, Jane <BrautigamJ at bouldercolorado.gov>; Winfree, Tracy <WinfreeT at bouldercolorado.gov>; Tom Isaacson <isaacson16 at comcast.net>; karen hollweg <khollweg at stanfordalumni.org>; External_Kevin_Bracy_Knight <bracyknight at gmail.com>; Curt Brown <cbrown1902act at gmail.com>; Andria Bilich <BilichA at bouldercolorado.gov>
Subject: [BoulderCouncilHotline] Glyphosate application on Open Space?????



Today my 23-pound close-to-the-ground Leila took her guardian on a walk along Four Mile Canyon Creek Greenway. In the Open Space portion we came across an open space and mountain parks employee spraying the vegetation along the north side of the Greenway. I asked her what she was spraying; she responded she was cleaning out with water the remainder of her spray.  I asked what she had been using and what she was spraying. She responded she was using glyphosate (Rodeo) and was only spot spraying, not broadly applying, to an invasive weed called oat grass. I said I was very surprised that the city was still using glyphosate as I thought we had banned that years ago. She emphasized she was just spot spraying and it was permissible to use in that situation. I asked isn't the department considering less toxic materials and are there not alternatives???  She responded yes there are alternatives and the city is considering them.

She was merely doing her job and doing what she was told to do and was very responsive to my questions which I appreciate.



Questions I have:

how is it that the city is using glyphosate anywhere on our city-owned properties????  Especially when there are other non-toxic alternatives.



What do I need to do as a councilmember to remove the use glyphosate on all of our city owned properties?  I am really concerned this is a continuing practice in the city by the city and I want this use eradicated.



For those not familiar with the 4 mile Canyon Creek Greenway, it is the highly used trail and a full 4 mile Canyon Creek flows on the south side. Hundreds of people walk along there weekly including babies in strollers, toddlers walking, small children, elderly people, lots of dogs, lots of runners and bicyclists. In the creek currently there are pairs of Mallard ducks looking for nesting sites as well as loons. All of the beings are currently exposed to the toxic effects of glyphosate. While this stretch of the trail allows for tagged well-behaved dogs to be off leash, I immediately put Leila on her leash



Also there was no posted notice of spraying activity. (At least I did not see any. ). That is not okay either especially for chemically sensitive individuals. How was this not posted?



Really???? In Boulder??? I request non-toxic alternatives to be used and a stop to the use of glyphosate by the city of Boulder.



Thanks. I look forward to a response.



Lisa



Lisa Morzel

Boulder City Council Member



303-815-6723 c

303-938-8520 h

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