TX Fields Around 200 Complaints/Year Of Cropdusters Hitting People, Pets, Gardens W. Pesticides

[hatrack]

It’s been nearly two years since an errant blast of a dangerous chemical doused the tiny Panhandle town of Quitaque, but the Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) hasn’t done a thing to punish the culprit. Last May, investigators with the state ag agency found that a local crop duster pilot was responsible for spraying paraquat, a toxic pesticide, on people, trees and gardens near the town of 387 people about an hour and a half southeast of Amarillo. In the meantime, at least one of the more than three dozen people exposed to what’s called “chemical drift” says the incident has forced her to pack up and move away.

Last year, an Observer investigation found that Quitaque and other small towns surrounded by cotton farms are under siege by crop duster pilots who are hired by farmers to spray pesticides on fields to kill weeds and prepare the cotton plants for harvest. If pilots do not apply the pesticides properly and under the right conditions, the wind can carry them into unsuspecting communities where they come into contact with people, plants and animals. Each year, TDA fields roughly 200 complaints of chemical drift statewide, some of which include reports of asthma attacks, bleeding gums, headaches, burning rashes, vomiting and diarrhea as a result of exposure to pesticides.

Our reporting found that the paltry fines levied on unscrupulous pilots by regulators are not an effective deterrent in preventing future wrongdoing. Ronnie Halfmann, a former crop duster and retired TDA official, told the Observer that rulebreakers are rarely caught and that any potential fines imposed by the agency on pilots are merely seen as a cost of doing business. “The chance of you getting caught is slim. It’s very little. And that’s just the way it is,” the former official said.

The agriculture department, which is charged with enforcing state and federal pesticide application rules, fielded complaints from 40 Quitaque residents (more than 10 percent of the population) in May and June 2016. Among them was one from Jerry Beck, who said his two granddaughters were outside playing when the harmful chemical drifted through town. Kim Reiss, who at the time ran a commercial organic garden in Quitaque, said the chemical made her nose bleed and did $8,000 in damage to her garden. “That was so weird. I never have a bloody nose,” she said when interviewed in December 2016.

EDIT

https://www.texasobserver.org/investigation-finds-culprit-in-panhandle-chemical-drift-case-state-takes-no-action/

[thbobby]

1. Our farm had a beautiful 15 acre pasture

that was oversprayed by a crop duster with herbicide on multiple occasions. My parents won a 20,000 dollar lawsuit from the company that did the dusting. Could have won double that, but the statute of limitation had passed by the time we figured out what was happening. Herbicide does very obvious damage to trees. Lower branches fall off and the entire tree looks pruned. Once you know what to look for, it is unmistakable. I see many trees like this. In town and country. It takes 2-3 years to become noticeable, but the tree never recovers.

My wife, kids, and myself were also sprayed by a crop duster while we were driving down the highway. A herbicide again. His licence was suspended for a year.

I have engaged in a decades-long hatred and fear of cropdusters. It is a battle I have been engaged in since my childhood. Chemical Farmers suck. Crop dusting is an unrecognized and enormous danger.