Are You Being Poisoned by Road Maintenance?

by Paylie Roberts

It’s no secret that at one point I left a major city and bugged out to a rural location, far away from most of the city conveniences.

My reasons for this are many, and my choice of location had much to do with what I could afford, as well as distance to a place of work.

Like most people, I still have to earn a living. Unless you’re a best selling author, you’re not going to survive off of book royalties, so working is usually still a requirement.

Anyway, I ended up near a small town with some very nice people. There are a few other preppers here and there, but mostly just simple country folk living their lives. Once moved, I immediately started my organic orchard and organic garden. I was told over and over by locals “good luck gardening here, too high elevation and too short of a growing season.” I’m no stranger to gardening, and I’ve always liked a good challenge. So I was determined to figure out how to make gardening work in my new locale.

After much work amending the soil, digging holes, composting, adding organic fertilizer, – you name it, if it was organic gardening we did it, – I started to wonder if the local folks knew something I didn’t. I was becoming very discouraged. What kept me going were the crops in my hoop house, they were doing well. But everything else, I was becoming skeptical. I tried to identify problems, but none of the symptoms fit any pest or disease. I was just about to throw my hands up in the air and invest in a ton of greenhouses, in hope of moderating both temperature and UV sunlight exposure at this high elevation.

Then a few days ago, pulling out of my driveway on my way to work, I was looking at my pathetic orchard, and noticed a pattern. I should have seen it all along, but didn’t until that moment. There was an area of the orchard protected by a building, and by “protected” I mean protected from the wind. It hit me hard: herbicide drift.

I heard a neighbor once mention that the county sprays the roads for weeds. But until a few days ago I figured the herbicide would just degrade along the sides of the road.

My first break at work I was on the Internet researching what in the world the road crews were using. Finding this information wasn’t easy, and by my last break of the day, I was on the phone with the county weed control program administrator. He was happy to answer my questions, but had to research and get back to me on several of them. This person, who had to research the answers to my questions, was the person in charge of the weed control program. He didn’t know the answers to many of my questions without looking them up. (I would think the person in charge would know these things?

I did get a call back fairly quickly. I did not recognize the first herbicide chemical used, diuron, but the second one named, made my stomach drop: glyphosate. I sunk into my chair dumbfounded. Why did I not know about this sooner? Why was this program not made more widely known to the public? Why is the county government supporting Monsanto by buying their nasty chemicals, and then spraying it where it will contaminate my property?!! Was this benevolent but dangerous ignorance, or was it more malevolent corruption?

Then the anger kicked in. Yes, it’s glyphosate, Roundup, whatever you want to call it. Many independent scientific research studies have shown numerous harmful effects from glyphosate in everything from the soil to humans. The pieces of the puzzle were all coming together. The unexplained symptoms now fit; the patterns of where things would grow and where they wouldn’t. Covered areas and areas protected from wind, everything looked good. Anything exposed to wind drift, died. It wasn’t the high elevation, it was the defoliant. My plants were struggling to maintain proper nutritional status, because the Roundup was (and stil isl) blocking their metabolism.

I had so many skeptical questions for the county officials. Without hesitation the county bureaucrats mindlessly insisted that the chemicals they used were safe. I was told you can buy Roundup at any store and therefore it’s safe. And people wonder where the zombie analogies come from. I was told that there was research showing that it was safe. I asked for this research, and I was told to fill out a public records request form, which by the way, I will be doing.

I asked how long this program has been going on, and I was told “I don’t know, since before my time.” I asked who authorized it, and I was told “I don’t know, since before my time.” I was clearly speaking to robots devoid of any critical thinking ability, happy to do what they are told without question, as long as they keep receiving that paycheck. I then asked where it originated, what paperwork is available to show how this program started, and I was told to fill out a public records request form. Yep, you guessed it, I will be doing so.

I was told that there is no wind drift, and that it doesn’t leach through the soil. In fact I was told that “it’s not possible,” and that my young trees are not dead because of their glyphosate. I asked if I tested the soil around my trees and it came back full of glysophate, if they would reimburse me for the trees. The response was a laugh with a simple “no.” A cursory review of the research literature on PubMed revealed numerous studies demonstrating herbicide drift, including glyphosate. It was quite easy to find evidence for the “impossible” happening.

I asked how the public was being informed or notified of this program, and I was told they are not. I asked why the public is not being informed about this, and I was told that anyone can call in and ask what they are spraying. I asked them how would anyone know to call in, and was told that “a neighbor doesn’t have to tell you if they spray Roundup in their yard, therefore the county doesn’t have to tell you either.”

I was so upset during this time that I didn’t even realize my work break was long over. I called the EPA with my questions (even though I had little hope that the EPA would be of any help). The EPA said they didn’t know, to call the State Health Department. I called the State Health Department and was only able to leave a message. My calls to them have yet to be returned. All these useless government agencies supposedly there to “help you” or “protect you”, yet not one person has answers to my questions. What a waste of tax dollars.

We did come to some partial resolutions with the county bureaucrats. “No spray” signs were placed in front of our property the next day. They will notify me ahead of time prior to spraying along our road, and they will read any peer reviewed science articles that I am willing to provide them. Small step forward, I’m taking it.

I have been busy reading abstracts on PubMed, finding ones worth digging up the complete journals to get. I intend to make a factual case to the public works office. I intend to put an end to the spraying. I fear it will be a long journey, but I must try. My and my family’s health depend on it. My neighbors’ health depends on it. This is not just about health, but at stake is the ability to grow a garden and produce food independently (outside of the big agri “control grid”), and without the use of greenhouses. The very survival of our community, and likely many others, depends on people making a change to this practice.

What baffles me the most is the arrogant ignorance of the public works employees who recite memorized lines they were trained to say, almost as if I were living in Huxley’s Brave New World. They have little real scientific knowledge, and hold no scientific degrees, let alone a degree in chemistry or biology. Unlike me, they have never taken an organic chemistry or biochemistry course. Yet they hubristically lecture the public about the so called “safety” of the products with which they fumigate everyone. Do they not realize that this affects them too? That it affects their families, their children? No, they don’t, they are that ignorant or brainwashed. And they won’t put a second thought into it until it actually does affect them, at which point, it will be too late.

My husband’s opinion is that spraying glyphosate where it will end up on private property is equivalent to engaging in chemical warfare against the public. He wanted to tell them, “If they don’t stop engaging in chemical warfare against us, he was going to start engaging in conventional warfare against them.” Fortunately the county bureaucrats have so far been willing to cooperate by not spraying in front of our property. But is that really going to prevent spray drift? I have my doubts. What about the spraying a short way up the road? On the other side of the road? And everywhere else?

I urge you to look along the sides of your county roads. Are they weed free? If so, how are they weed free? Do you see armies of workers or volunteers pulling or mowing weeds? If not, herbicide spraying is likely being done to control the weeds. Contact your local public works office and ask them what method they are using. Ask questions, demand answers. Take the steps to secure yourself a better and healthier future. Don’t let them tell you there is no drift, that’s bull puckey. Don’t let them tell you that the chemicals they are using are safe. There is too much scientific evidence supporting that drift occurs, and that many of these chemical herbicides are not safe. If you doubt these facts, research them for yourself. Don’t let them spend your tax dollars on Monsanto’s poison to be sprayed in front of your front door. Do your research, ask questions, and demand truthful, accurate answers.

We must become aware, and we must act. Do so before the EPA or some similar state or local terrorist bureaucracy forces you to evacuate your property because your well water is contaminated with glyphosate or other herbicide chemicals beyond safe levels. Oh, and contrary to what the chemical companies and the EPA (who are likely bought and paid for by the chemical companies) say, glyphosate does contaminate drinking water supplies.

Maybe if the road crews were spraying organic raw milk, then the so called “authorities” who are supposed to “protect” us might actually investigate and take action. Yet another example of how things in our society are logically and morally stood on their head, particularly with anything related to “government” or “corporations”.

Partial list of links to some of the research references I found before writing this article:

Environmental fate of glyphosate and aminomethylphosphonic acid in surface waters and soil of agricultural basins.

Laboratory and lysimeter studies of glyphosate and aminomethylphosphonic acid in a sand and a clay soil.

Determination of glyphosate in groundwater samples using an ultrasensitive immunoassay and confirmation by on-line solid-phase extraction followed by liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry.

Study confirms GMO herbicide glyphosate contaminates groundwater supplies

This Menace Killed 50% of Rats Tested – But It’s Hiding in Your Water, Air and Food

Glyphosate-drift but not herbivory alters the rate of transgene flow from single and stacked trait transgenic canola (Brassica napus) to nontransgenic B. napus and B. rapa.

Glyphosate drift promotes changes in fitness and transgene gene flow in canola (Brassica napus) and hybrids.

Biological responses to glyphosate drift from aerial application in non-glyphosate-resistant corn.

Roundup disrupts male reproductive functions by triggering calcium-mediated cell death in rat testis and Sertoli cells.

A glyphosate-based herbicide induces necrosis and apoptosis in mature rat testicular cells in vitro, and testosterone decrease at lower levels.

Glyphosate induces human breast cancer cells growth via estrogen receptors.

Glyphosate-based herbicides are toxic and endocrine disruptors in human cell lines.

Glyphosate poisoning.

Reducing Spray Drift from Glyphosate and Growth Regulator Herbicide Drift Caution

Herbicide drift: How to avoid it Part 1

Herbicide drift: How to avoid it Part 2

Herbicide drift: How to avoid it Part 3

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Paylie Roberts is the author of Bugging Out To Nowhere and the forthcoming Life After Bugging Out. She lives with her husband, two German shepherds, and various livestock, somewhere between the Cascade Range and the Rocky Mountains.