Bernalillo County Commissioners Tuesday will consider allowing certain herbicides back into the county’s weed-killing toolbox.
A proposed revision to the county’s Integrated Vegetation Management and Maintenance Plan would allow the use of products containing glyphosate — a weed killer — ending a moratorium in place since 2019.
Commissioners in 2019 dropped those products, citing concerns about harm to people, wildlife and the environment. Their decision came about a year after a jury awarded a California man $289 million after determining his exposure to Monsanto Co.’s Roundup led to non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
County land management staff has since used non-glyphosate products for weed control, according to the commission’s meeting agenda. Staff say those products are less effective, more expensive, more difficult to store and more hazardous to apply.
Staff says the number of weed related calls have increased over the past several years and the number of hours spent on weed control have substantially increased.
The agenda also says staff shortages and the county’s inability to identify a substitute herbicide or mechanical solution means weeds and weed seedbeds have increased in some places to the point they are unmanageable and possibly a hazard to the public.
The motion up for consideration would rescind the current glyphosate moratorium and replace it with new recommended glyphosate restrictions that would allow the spot use of glyphosate “as a last resort in high-hazard landscapes for the public and maintenance staff and in high-need landscapes where weeds have become
unmanageable.”
Finally commons sense appears in the weeds. Glyphosate is less toxic than salt and should be one of the first choices.
No, do not bring those products back. Find another way. Do not poison us, the wildlife, and the environment.
“Commissioners in 2019 dropped those products, citing concerns about harm to people, wildlife and the environment.”
That’s a bad idea because little kids, adults, dogs, all play on the lawns. Glyphosate is obviously questionable as far as safety. Hire some people to mow, weed and trim–maybe the ones that just got laid off from the federal government? Or low income folks who need a job? Why poison us MORE than we are already poisoned by living?
Use black plastic to cover weed areas for 2-3 weeks or ground clothes.
This is very upsetting to me. My dogs became very sick when it was sprayed on the medians and in the park behind my home. It gives me headaches and causes my asthma to flare. I hope this does not get approved.
A sad day for people in Bernalillo County. Because of the glyphosate-contaminated food supply, most people are up to their eyeballs with this chemical in their bodies. So let’s add more! The literature says a lot more than just one guy with lymphoma. That’s one of 100,000 lawsuits. So let’s add more. This time it will snare the county too. Time to think a little harder about weeds.
Pat Gallagher