Plainview Residents Object to Malathion Spraying

February 17, 2002

Plainview Residents Object to Spraying

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Many residents of Plainview believe they are being poisoned by crop dusters.

They say the pesticide crop dusters are using is doing more than killing

boll weevils and making people sick. They want the spraying of that

pesticide to stop. The City of Plainview's Public Health Advisory Board met

to consider grounding the planes.

A debate is heating up in Plainview over crop dusting and many people are

upset. Some say they and their children are getting sick from what they

believe is the pesticide Malathion. Warren is a Plainview parent.

" My three and half year old daughter has been to the doctor every month for

the last five months with upper respiratory infections "

The Texas Boll Weevil Eradication Program has been spraying Malathion over

Hale County since September 1st. They say that Malathion isn't that harmful

and that Hale County health problems can't be attributed directly to the

pesticide. is a former Director of the Texas Boll Weevil

Eradication Program. " I enjoyed my coffee every morning. Caffeine is 16

times more toxic than Malathion. I'm sure some of you enjoyed table salt

with your lunch. Malathion is twice as toxic as table salt. "

But many Hale County residents like Brito disagree. " Malathion was

designed by the U.S. Army as a nerve gas. It kills people. A doctor can

appreciate how it works. It stops the transmission of messages from the

brain to the different organs. "

The Hale County Health Advisory board has not decided what should be done

about the issue. They could have voted to ground the crop dusting planes,

but didn't, saying the meeting ran over time. The next chance to vote is in

two months. That means at least for now the planes keep on spraying.

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