Snohomish County Community Rights hosting aerial spraying info meetings

Kelly Sullivan

The public is invited to attend three community meetings about the impacts of and potential alternatives to aerial spraying practices in the Sky Valley.

The series is being hosted by the Snohomish County Community Rights group that formed last year to “address a growing concern for massive toxic pesticide spraying on local timber plantations, potential toxic contamination of water sources, harm to the ecosystem and economy.”

Meetings start at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 27, Wednesday, Feb. 28, and Thursday, March 1, at the Monroe, Marysville and Lynwood public libraries, respectively.

Pesticide spraying includes herbicides, insecticides and fungicides, according to SCCR. Every spring and fall, Sky Valley communities that include Gold Bar, Sultan and Monroe, which are bordered in certain areas by tree plantations, “experience massive pesticide spraying.” Timber corporations and the Washington Department of Natural Resources apply various combinations of chemicals after logging, so freshly planted seedlings can grow rapidly.

“In fact, herbicide spraying eliminates all vegetation but conifers, and affects entire ecosystems of the Valley and Puget Sound,” according to the group.

SCCR is partnering with the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund for the upcoming meetings. Click here and here for more information.

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