ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Forest Service managers
created a potential threat to the public through risky spraying of pesticides
and weed-killers in the Southwest, a federal official charges in a whistleblower
complaint obtained by The Associated Press.
Environmental laws and the agency's own rules on spraying were ignored, the
complaint says. For example, it says that over the past three years thousands of
pounds of insecticides were used near campgrounds in the Apache-Sitgreaves
National Forest without justification or determining the risk to campers and
other visitors.
Doug Parker, the pesticide coordinator and assistant director of forestry and
forest health for the Forest Service's Southwestern Region, would not discuss
his accusations, saying his supervisor has ordered him not to speak publicly
about the matter.
His lawyer, Dennis Montoya, said Parker believes he could lose his job for
speaking out but considers it critical that the Forest Service ensure that
pesticides are used responsibly.
Regional Forest Service spokesman Jim Payne said Monday that the agency couldn't
comment specifically on the accusations by Doug Parker's accusations because it
had not seen them.
Parker alleged that there is a "systemic problem" in the agency's
Southwestern Region of officials seeking to complete projects without going
through proper procedures, such as preparing risk assessments and getting
permission from agency officials who have the authority to make decisions about
pesticides.
Skirting those rules and laws has resulted in "potentially serious public
safety and environmental threats," he said in his main complaint, filed in
March with the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Montoya said Parker has worked for the Forest Service for nearly 38 years.
Source: Associated Press