West Chester Area School District to Use Pesticides On School Grounds

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August 23, 2000

WCASD votes to put pesticides on elementary school grounds

By SHARON HINCHBERGER, Staff Writer

WEST CHESTER -- Despite the opposition of several residents, the Property

and Finance Committee of the West Chester Area School District approved a

plan to treat the elementary school grounds in the district with pesticides.

The unanimous decision came Monday after several residents expressed their

opposition to the decision, stating their concerns that it would cause

potential hazards to children at the elementary school level.

Keslick Jr., a West Chester resident and business owner, expressed his

frustration and said that he was not notified by the school district about

the potential pesticide treatment program.

" Last year, you were not planning on doing anything at the elementary

schools, " Keslick said to the committee.

Keslick then asked who was ultimately responsible for the decision to use

the pesticides at the elementary school level.

" Who is responsible for this? " he asked. " I want to know who to point the

finger at. "

Keslick said that his designation on the Pennsylvania Pesticide

Hypersensitivity Registry with the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture,

which is a list of people who have been verified by a physician to be

" excessively or abnormally sensitive to pesticides, " is partly the reason

for his consternation.

According to the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, all commercial and

public pesticide applicators must contact anyone on the registry whose

listed location is within 500 feet of a pesticide application site.

Keslick said that his business, Keslick and Sons Modern Arbiculture, is

about 100 feet from Glen Acres Elementary School, one of the schools that is

part of the pesticide treatment plan.

Harry Protzmann, the manager of facilities and operation, said that he had

faxed the notification to Keslick's business.

Keslick said that he did not receive it.

Protzmann defended the school's actions on treating the fields, saying that

" not to have done so would have posed a safety risk to school athletes. "

Protzmann assured the committee that proper application procedures will be

implemented, and that the treatment process would most likely take place

during a weekend in order to avoid any unnecessary exposure to students.

" We will start with the weakest solution first, " Protzmann said. " If we go

to an aggressive application, it would be very scarce, almost a

spot-application. "

Protzmann said warning flags would be placed near the treated area for

residents who would happen to frequent the area during off-school hours.

One member of the Property and Finance Committee, Benzing, expressed

concern of the potency of the pesticides that would used in the treatment

program; her concerns were eased after hearing Protzmann's assurance that

they would be prudent with their use of pesticides.

Benzing supported the opinion that the playing fields are unsuitable as they

are in their current condition.

" You wouldn't expect the musicians in the school to play with broken

instruments, " Benzing said. " We shouldn't expect our athletes to play on

poor playing fields. "

One of the products, Millenium Ultra, which has captured the focus of West

Chester Area School District parents Gail and Sutton of East Goshen and

Keslick, has the compound 2,4-D as its active ingredient.

In a March 1 letter to the school board, Wendelgass of Clean Water

Action called 2,4-D a " toxic chemical " that is a " carcinogen, teratogen and

immunotoxin; a suspected mutagen and suspected fetotoxin; and injure(s) the

liver, kidney and central nervous system. "

" It is a toxic chemical that we do not believe should be used around

children, " Wendelgass said.

©Daily Local News 2000