March 27, 2024: Update on this pesticide investigation:
The Staffordshire Homeowners Association has received a letter stating that our HOA had a Crossbow pesticide incident on June 5, 2023, and reprimanding the HOA.
During the Crossbow incident investigation last summer, some people involved tried vainly to convince the Oregon Pesticide Investigator, Tash Wilson, that the herbicide applied to our commons by Jake Kimbrough, our maintenance employee, wasn’t Crossbow but “magically” became glyphosate (Round-Up). Some might say that certain people on and off the board “worked well together” and lied to Inspector Wilson. To her credit, she filed her report stating true facts, and now the Staffordshire Homeowners Association has received a letter stating that our HOA had a Crossbow pesticide incident on June 5, 2023, and reprimanding the HOA. So much for our present (past) board of directors “working together” to try to fool the State of Oregon. Is the present board attempting to “sweep” this Crossbow issue “under the rug”? For what legitimate reason has the board of directors neglected to tell the membership about this development? Is this board going to “work together well” and finally take responsibility for our safety and welfare as a community concerning the use of pesticides? Let’s see the letter. The only possible reason, besides trying to hide the results of this investigation, is that the board may be considering “fighting” this reprimand and wants to spend money defending the actions of a few in a vain attempt to cover this up. I’m sorry this Crossbow incident happened, but now we have had the opportunity to see that the board of directors “worked together” to deny this incident happened, apparently condoning certain people’s misrepresentations of the facts (Crossbow vs. Glyphosate). This kind of deception from our leadership should not be tolerated. Has anyone considered the possibility that the applicator of this poison, Jake Kimbrough, has also received a reprimand? Will he choose to seek legal action against this HOA for requiring him to use a toxic pesticide called Crossbow and not requiring him to use the proper personal protective equipment? Or was Jake just applying the pesticide on his own initiative? I ask this question because on the morning that Jake applied the poison, our present Maintenance Director was unaware of what Jake was doing and what the chemical was that he was applying. This is a fact, which I can prove, using emails/text messages sent on that day. Later, a “collection” was taken to give to Jake. Was the “collection” raised by our previous Maintenance Director to “thank” Jake for his service actually a “bribe” to keep him quiet? I’m not saying anyone bribed our employee to keep quiet about an obvious OSHA violation; I am just saying that this has the appearance of a bribe. How many in this community condone the actions of those involved in this pesticide incident?
Staffordshire Estates was exposed to the pesticide called Crossbow on June 5, 2023. After weeks of trying to get our board of directors to rectify this situation, I reached out to the Oregon Department of Agriculture Pesticide Program. As a result, Pesticide Investigator Tash Wilson has been meeting with residents to understand the extent of our exposure to this and other pesticides, especially concerning pets who have been exposed.
Since the investigation is ongoing, I will not go into any details. We will wait for Tash Wilson and her team to complete the investigation and she can give us a report of their findings. At this point, I can say that Ms. Wilson says that Crossbow is not labeled to be used in a residential area (such as Staffordshire Estates).
If you suspect that you, your loved ones, including pets been exposed to pesticides, please contact:
Pesticides Program, 895 Country Club Rd #225A Eugene, OR 97401, Tash Wilson, Pesticide Investigator, tash.wilson@oda.oregon.gov PH: 541.406.9616
Do you have a suggestion for a natural method to deal with riddance of weeds?
Hi Judith,
I’m assuming you are talking about a lot more weeds than you are willing to pull. My “go-to” method that I have used on several areas here at home and in the community garden is to simply cover the ground, weeds and all in several layers of cardboard. Cover the cardboard with either “store-bought” compost or “bark-o-mulch” of your choice (the key is to not add weed seeds to this top layer). If you see any stray weeds poking up later on, simply pull back the compost or mulch, pull as much of the “stubborn weed” as possible, then put a few more layers of cardboard then cover again with the compost or mulch. Works for me for the past couple years… none or very few new weeds. Thanks for asking, Judith!
Steve