Earth Day Round Up! - Poisoned Ashland

Andy Warstar, 30.04.2008 19:48

Thousands of gallons of Round-Up! sprayed in Ashland on Earth Day along the railroad tracks in the heart of Ashland...

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Earth Day is a time to celebrate the beautiful planet we live upon... To be thankful for the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the land we live on. In Ashland, Oregon on Earth Day 2008, many environmentally concious citizens of Ashland were doing exactly that: celebrating the health of the planet. The gathering place? Science Works off of East Main near the railroad tracks which run through the middle of Ashland from start to finish.

What all those families didn't know while they were down there at Science Works enjoying the festivities, is that they were down wind of thousands of gallons of chemical poison being sprayed along the railroad tracks! Yes, that's right... After a long day supporting the Earth Day event, I rode my bike home along the bike path from Science Works toward A street, and as I came to the Railroad Park, I witnessed a HUGE truck retrofitted with special wheels to make it drive directly on the railroad tracks.

On a roof rack on top, the truck carried fifty or so white bags with green print, the bags the size of a bag of potting soil. There was a GIGANTIC tank on the back of the truck that was capable of carrying THOUSANDS of gallons of liquid, and there was a HUGE spraying apparatus fifteen feet wide spraying liquid from the back of the truck as it rolled slowly along the tracks.

I passed by on my bike, and then I noticed the smell: TOXIC!! I put my coat over my nose and mouth. I Turned in the direction of the man following the truck on foot wearing an orange vest, and yelled from about 30 feet away, "WHAT IS THAT YOU'RE SPRAYING??" He yelled in response, "WHAT??!!"

I yelled the question a few more times. The second and third time I asked the question "What are you spraying?" the man responded "Don't worry about it! It's non-toxic!" Finally, upon the fourth time I asked, the man responded "It's ROUND-UP! Don't worry! It's non-toxic!"

I replied "Whatever man! That shit's poison!" and I rode away as quickly as I could on my bicycle. I went to the Ashland Food Co-Op and telephoned my friend down at the Earth Day festival to see if he could alert everyone to the health threat. He replied "The DJs have all left so I can't get the word out." When I ran into my friend a couple weeks after Earth Day I asked him what he thought of this local environmental travesty and he replied:

"Well, I noticed there was something in the air while I was riding my bike home along the bike path behind the police station, that day. It was the most pungent industrial chemical smell I'd ever smelled. It took my breath away. I knew that I experienced something bad because for the next two days, I was in bed with a head ache and muscle aches, even though I'd gotten plenty of good food and sleep."

For a company like Southern Pacific Railroad to be able to roll through Ashland on Earth Day and spray thousands of gallons of toxic liquid poison in our backyards (which affects our groundwater quality and the health of us and our children) is a travesty to say the least. Before this happens again, we, the residents of Ashland ought to bring this incident to the attention of the Ashland City Council. We ought to pass measures to ensure that Southern Pacific Railroad must NOTIFY residents of our town BEFORE spraying ANYTHING on the ground in the MIDDLE of our town!

If you, the residents of Ashland have anything to say about this issue, please respond to this article, and make your voice heard.

e-mail:: karmasupa69@yahoo.com
Homepage:: http://www.myspace.com/andywarstar

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Website Address Is Incorrect! 30.04.2008 - 19:53 the web address at the bottom of this article was incorrect. could you please change it to  http://www.myspace.com/andywarstar thanks! Andy Warstar> e-mail:: karmasupa69@gmail.com Homepage:: http://www.andywarstar.com Thanks for reporting this 30.04.2008 - 21:32 This is a travesty - there are some really yummy berry bushes (well,not yet but this summer there will be) not far off the tracks that are probably now ruined by Roundup. Liisa>