JOIN US ON THURSDAY MAY 18TH, 9:30 AM WHERE ORAL ARGUMENTS WILL BE HEARD AT THE 5^th DISTRICT APPELLATE COURT OF APPEALS LOCATED AT 333 W. Santa Clara St., Suite 1060, San Jose

(Case Number HO42834, Cheriel Jensen, Healthy Alternatives 2 Pesticides vs. Santa Clara County Vector Control District.)

You are welcome to attend. Seating is limited and additional standing room is available.

HAP is calling on the Appellate Court to stop the repeated spring/summer/fall toxic pesticide contamination of our population and habitat.  HAP is calling upon citizens to unite to end the contamination.

Vector Control can no longer ignore the United States Constitution, Amendment IV, our right to be secure in our homes.

Vector Control can no longer ignore the California Environmental Quality Act.

It is NOT reasonable to fog with poison 4.1 square MILES each time there is a single positive find of a mosquito.  It is NOT reasonable to ignore safer methods such as trapping.

Vector Control can no longer use the excuse that they are killing mosquitoes carrying the West Nile Virus. They have failed to show even a consistent two-day mosquito reduction. Furthermore, Vector Control has not even studied the environment to understand that they are killing the very predators that control mosquitoes and their larva.

We have seen the pesticides that Vector Control uses kill fish, birds, frogs, mosquito eaters, dragonflies, damselflies, and other primary predators of mosquitoes. Declarations in our court case document these observations.

Though Vector Control claims the pesticides they use are safe for bees, bees found dead the day after fogging, tested by Columbia Food Labs, contained Zenivex E4, Vector Control’s pesticide.

A pesticide they have been using, etofenprox, was claimed in their water permit to have a 4.1 day soil half-life and was instead discovered (by Columbia University testing) to have over a year soil half-life.  Go to: http://pmep.cce.cornell.edu/profiles/insect-mite/ddt-famphur/ethofenprox/etofenprox_wth_0315.pdf

People have the right to expect real science to prevail on these issues.

The CHAMACOS* (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3237357/)
and CHARGE (http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/1307044/) studies now document how critically brain damaging even seemingly minor pesticide exposure is to infants at critical times in their development.  Will the court protect our infant’s intelligence?

The pesticides are toxic to humans impacting all body systems, especially hormone systems, gut flora and the brain. Pesticide exposures, including pesticides that have been used by Vector Control, are associated with increased cancer incidence.  Many people have complained of sickness to Vector Control, the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors and to Healthy Alternatives To Pesticides after Vector Control fogging.  We want the court to stop Vector Control’s mass poisonings that have made people sick. Infants are especially vulnerable to pesticide exposure*.

Vector Control’s pesticide Zenivex E4 content is 96% undisclosed as trade secret.  Not even Vector Control, the agency spewing it, or the Board of Supervisors, knows what 96% of it is. Pesticide formulas are not required by the EPA to be tested, only the active ingredient.  Thus, this mass pesticide fogging is a huge uncontrolled experiment with basically unknown ingredients with no researchers on the job.  No one can say it is safe.  No one can say it is effective.  We urge the court to recognize this reckless experiment and put a stop to it.

We have the right to a real trial on these issues.

Will the Appellate Court ensure our right to not be poisoned?.

*“Prenatal Exposure to Organophosphate Pesticides and IQ in 7-Year-Old Children”, Maryse F. Bouchard,1,2 Jonathan Chevrier,1 Kim G. Harley,1 Katherine Kogut,1 Michelle Vedar,1 Norma Calderon,3 Celina Trujillo,1 Caroline Johnson,1 Asa Bradman,1 Dana Boyd Barr,4 and Brenda Eskenazi, a birth cohort study (Center for the Health Assessment of Mothers and Children of Salinas) study, Environ Health Perspect. 2011 Aug; 119(8): 1189–1195.
Three Separate Studies Link in Utero Organophosphate Pesticide Exposure and Cognitive Development” in volume 119 on page a328.

*”Neurodevelopmental Disorders and Prenatal Residential Proximity to Agricultural Pesticides: The CHARGE Study”, Janie F. Shelton,1 Estella M. Geraghty,2 Daniel J. Tancredi,3,4 Lora D. Delwiche,1 Rebecca J. Schmidt,1 Beate Ritz,5,6,7 Robin L. Hansen,3,8 and Irva Hertz-Picciotto1,8, Environ Health Perspect; Volume 122, Issue 10, October 2014, DOI:10.1289/ehp.1307044

Demonstration

When: Wednesday May 17th.

Time:  12:00PM to 2:00 PM.

Where: 70 West Hedding St., San Jose on the sidewalk in front of the County Government Center.

Vector Control is poised to begin fogging.  They have held their annual Open House and they have been on the news announcing they will soon begin fogging.  So far, they have yet found even one mosquito tested positive for the West Nile Virus. We will be demonstrating in front of the Board of Supervisors office building, the responsible body for this continuing mass poisoning.

Prior to the court hearing, Healthy Alternatives To Pesticides (HAP) members and supporters will be holding a demonstration against West Nile mass pesticide fogging. You are invited to join us on Wednesday, May 17^th from 12:00PM – 2:00PM at 70 West Hedding St. in San Jose.

Parking: The place to park for more than one hour is the multi level parking structure opposite the main jail on Hedding.  It may cost roughly $5.00.  There are a few metered parking spaces allowing 2 hour parking along Hedding Street, North San Pedro Street and further south on West Mission, but these spaces are often filled at mid-day.  Bring quarters just in case one of these spaces is available as they are much less expensive.  The free visitor’s parking lot on the west side of the County Government Center strictly allows only one hour parking and is patrolled frequently.  Don’t park for more than one hour in that lot and don’t try to just move your car.

HAP will have signs or you are welcome to bring your own.

Thanks to all who are participating in this effort.  Every single person who helps in any way makes a HUGE difference.