tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2556326304729519232.post5033902765440269921..comments2024-03-22T10:01:39.458-04:00Comments on Paradigms and Demographics: Response to Comments IIRich Kozlovichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13745960671409518147noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2556326304729519232.post-25478316937217169312008-10-30T08:23:00.000-04:002008-10-30T08:23:00.000-04:00Hello Rick,Regarding the story about the illegal g...Hello Rick,<BR/><BR/>Regarding the story about the illegal gopher application, let me tell you that I am very proud of how I handled the issue. The story is part of the early history of Hearts Pest Management and I talk to my technicians about it as part of their instructions on staying safe and legal.<BR/>Please understand that when I bought this company in 2002, I had no exposure to the industry. I was an out of work middle-manager from the information technology sector which had taken a plunge.<BR/>The specific application for gophers was done at my house in my orchard and I had no idea that the owner/operator had acted illegally. This is how I came into contact with the operator whose company I eventually bought. He had a structural license, but not a landscape license and this particular job was in my orchard, over 150 feet from my house.<BR/>When I purchased his company I became an applicator working under the supervision of the former owner.<BR/>As soon as I went through my 1st class, I realized that his contention that this work was legal came into question. He felt that the local ag. dept bureaucrats were just over-extending their jurisdiction. When the operator stated that we couldn't report the chemical usage, it raised another flag.<BR/>At the risk of losing a $150,000 investment, I insisted that the former owner/operator of Hearts go to the local agriculture department with me to clarify in what situations can a structural operator use fumitoxin for gophers. The agriculture department had been claiming that a structural operator could never use fumitoxin and my operator said he could use anything he wanted so long as the use was structural. That day, within a couple of months of purchasing the company, I came very close to losing it. As it turned out, my operator did have the authority to use fumitoxin (although not something they widely recognized), but only if a structure was endangered. <BR/>The agriculture department also realized that as a new owner, totally new to the field, I had taken the step to pro-actively address the situation and obtain clarification. I immediately modified all our agreements, so that we only used the product if we identified a human structure that was endangered and additionally hired a landscape operator. Within a year, I obtained both my structural and agricultural licenses. <BR/>Again, I am very proud of having stood up to the practices of the former owner and qualifying operator at the risk of losing a very large investment. I was very happy when I was able to terminate the services of an operator who seemed to think there where many "grey areas of the law" where I saw black and white.<BR/><BR/>With regard to the delta-dust application by another company that I came in back of, I can tell you that the owner of the home did get sick. He had been instructed to leave the delta-dust out on his kitchen counter top, where he prepared food. (There must have been about 16 ounces on his countertop). In resolving the issue, I exited the home and informed the prior vendor, who came out and took several hours to clean up the mess.<BR/><BR/>With regard to Termidor usage by techs in the area, I can only tell you that in California, Termidor is not labeled for bees or wasps. There have been techs from other companies who have bragged about how well the product worked on bees specifically.<BR/><BR/>Look, there are arguments for and against pesticides. It is no secret that pest control companies make mistakes. Truly Nolen wrote a book that was published not too long ago, in which he talks about how he almost lost his own company, when one of his applicators used a bird control product that got into the feed of a herd of cattle, killing several of them and placing the entire herd in quarrentine for a month.<BR/><BR/>I don't have the deep historical knowledge that you have on some of these matters. I have been in the field for 7 years. All I will tell you is that pest control companies need proper oversight. The pesticides put a lot of power into the hands of people, who for the most part are not well educated. Look, even doctors, for all their education, make a lot of mistakes and sometimes go over the line.<BR/><BR/>Are there people out there so radical to foolishly ban pesticides? Absolutely. Are there consumers that abuse pesticides? Absolutely. I don't have the time or inclination to parse each of your sentences or words as you are doing, but I believe we should all step back and look at the true merits and de-merits of pesticide use.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2556326304729519232.post-43271049793887028642008-10-19T15:11:00.000-04:002008-10-19T15:11:00.000-04:00The Tulane study that was withdrawn was not the pr...The Tulane study that was withdrawn was not the primary study done on endocrine disruption, but instead claimed that there were synergistic effects between endocrine disruptors.<BR/><BR/>That was one paper, fraud caught by the director of the lab who promptly withdrew that one paper.<BR/><BR/>What about the dozens of previous papers showing endocrine disruption to be a problem? What about the hundreds of papers following?<BR/><BR/>One case of fraud in a paper does not -- cannot -- invalidate other, accurate and ethical studies.<BR/><BR/>What harm did the overuse of DDT cause? It makes it almost impossible to use insecticides against malaria-carrying mosquitoes now. It contributed to the explosion of malaria in the late 1960s and 1970s, because DDT had killed off the predators of the mosquitoes much more effectively and permanently than it killed the mosquitoes themselves.<BR/><BR/>If you're using Driessen's over-the-top, unscientific book as a source, no wonder you're missing the bigger picture. Even Driessen has come around on indoor residual spraying against malaria, now taking Rachel Carson's view (though, I'll wager, he'll never admit it). <BR/><BR/>Nuclear war has its place. It's a very limited place, best never exercised. DDT is a lot like that.Ed Darrellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10056539160596825210noreply@blogger.com