Agent Orange Was "Safe" Too!

Either stupid or insane! The people living on either side of the Rio Grande have every reason to be upset about this harebrained idea and to demand thorough testing and a serious consideration of alternative methods. EPA assurances aside, herbicides are dangerous and anything that kills a wide variety of plant life is not safe to use anywhere or any time. Has everyone forgotten that the government told us DDT, Agent Orange, Chlordane, Round-Up and all the rest of the now banned pesticides and herbicides were safe? (Round-Up is not yet banned but recent testing has shown that it does have deleterious effects on humans). Yes, there is some small chance imazapyr is safe but without years of testing it's hard to say what kind of impact it could have on people, wildlife and the water supply. Holy Shit! Agent Orange is still having an impact in Vietnam today fer Chrissakes! The comment on imazapyr from the EPA is not reassuring..."Imazapyr technical is relatively nontoxic via the oral route of exposure, and only slightly toxic via the dermal and inhalation routes of exposure," What the hell is "slightly toxic"?

Applying herbicides on a 1.1-mile stretch of the U.S. side of the river was part of a test project, Prichard said, but the CBP decided to postpone the $2.1 million experiment to address community concerns.

Residents of two Hispanic communities near Laredo, Texas -- Barrio de Colores and Barrio El Cuatro -- filed a lawsuit late Tuesday asking a federal court to intervene. Prichard said Wednesday morning he was unaware of the lawsuit.

Among the complaints in the lawsuit, the communities allege the CBP failed to assess the environmental impact adequately, failed to consider reasonable alternatives and failed to notify the public adequately.

Somebody with the sense the Goddess gave a crab apple needs to nip this whole idea in the bud before someone decides that the "risk" is minimal. The Rio Grande waterway is habitat to thousands of species of birds, mammals, reptiles and insects and an important part of the Central American flyway(Hello! its spring migration folks!). Has the effect of Imazapyr been tested for long term on all of the species inhabiting the area? Have long term effects on humans and human reproduction been tested? You bet your sweet ass they haven't and before anyone allows the first whiff of spraying there better be a 100% assurance that there is absolutely no risk to anyone or anything. Of course, like in most other similar situations the government will just railroad everyone and or lie about testing and just do it anyway. The reality is that a small herd of goats could probably clear the whole area in just a few months while fertilizing and providing the occasional tasty BBQ for the locals but that is not insane enough and way too low tech.