Pesticide Report

Re “County Urged to Boost Monitoring of Pesticide Laws” and “Pesticide Laws Fail to Protect Farm Workers, Study Finds,” June 24.

Thanks to Times staff writers Fred Alvarez and Ken Ellingwood for their reporting on “Fields of Poison,” the most recent propaganda from the United Farm Workers and assorted environmental groups. I note that The Times has taken this opportunity to once again kick Ventura County Agricultural Commissioner Earl McPhail. You people go after Mr. McPhail as if you think he is a Republican.

Writer Alvarez points out that remarkably few violations and / or fines are assessed in Ventura County. This is because licensed commercial pest control companies do most of the pesticide applications where workers are likely to be exposed to the crops treated. In areas where growers do their own pesticide applications they use state-of-the-art equipment.

The primary concern of all people associated with the application of pesticides is that it is carried out safely, legally and only when necessary. Included here is the utmost consideration of worker safety. No one wants to be responsible for injury of a worker. Nothing we do with pesticides is so important that we can’t wait the extra time to be certain that worker reentry into a treated field is safe. These are the reasons we have fewer violations and fines in Ventura County.

Writer Ellingwood quotes Don Villarejo, director of the California Institute for Rural Studies in Davis--whatever that is. This guy seems to be of the opinion that agricultural workers are exposed to carcinogens. Well, they may be if they smoke but not from exposure to pesticides applied at label rates. Over the years it takes to register a pesticide for use in California, millions of dollars are spent to verify that when used as directed it is not a carcinogen. I know people with agendas do not like to face these facts, but they should.

JAMES R. HOHIMER, Newbury Park