TOXIC POT PLOT UNDERSCORES GROWING PROBLEM

Robert Sutherland and some friends were bushwhacking through federal
land on Red Mountain earlier this month when they stumbled on piles of
pesticide containers at the headwaters of a creek.

Some of them were punctured, and Sutherland wondered if the chemicals
may have been released into the stream.

The group contacted the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, which sent out
a team to clean up the site on School Section Creek southeast of
Piercy in northern Mendocino county.

It's a scene ever more common on public land in the West.
Industrial-scale marijuana growing operations often bring in armed
illegal immigrants with orders to shoot. After the marijuana is
harvested, the detritus -- including toxic chemicals -- is left behind.

BLM cleaned up the 30 containers at the reoccupied grow site. They
included a rat killer called diphacinone, listed as highly toxic by
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The Extension Toxicology Network website describes the chemical as
highly toxic by direct ingestion, but with no likely chronic toxicity
in humans. Data on its effects on reproductive health, or if it causes
cancer, is unavailable, the network says. It is supposed to be used
only by certified operators.

Another chemical at the scene, which contains chloropyros, is listed
by the network as moderately toxic to humans. It's a common lawn
insecticide.

Sutherland wonders why the site wasn't treated as a crime scene and
why soil and water samples weren't taken.

"Even if it has all passed away there was a time when it passed down
the stream," said Sutherland, a founder of the Environmental
Protection Information Center. "I feel the bureau should have put
people on notice and tell people they may have been exposed."

School Section Creek's water eventually runs into the South Fork of
the Eel River, where people swim and some get their drinking water.

BLM civil engineer Brad Job said the rat bait degrades quickly and
would not likely have leached into the stream. The insecticide also
degrades rather quickly, he said.

Job said he doesn't think there is a risk to humans in this case. In
general, however, improper use of such chemicals can harm insects and
fish.

"It's a bummer that people use these chemicals on public lands for
nefarious purposes," he said.

BLM's Arcata Field Manager Lynda Roush said trying to pin the
contamination on someone wouldn't be worth an investigation, since the
site was long since abandoned.

"It doesn't warrant the time and effort to find out who did this,"
Roush said.

Tuck Vath, a senior engineering geologist with the North Coast
Regional Water Quality Control Board, said he's waiting to hear back
from BLM.

By sampling the soil, BLM could determine whether the chemicals may be
contaminating the stream. The water board would only get involved if
tests showed there is a threat to water, he said.

BLM's Arcata office has five law enforcement officers to cover 200,000
acres. In recent years, BLM was once able to tie marijuana growers to
contamination. The operators were ordered to pay $10,000 toward a clean-up.

Sutherland said it seems BLM wants to treat the incident as
insignificant, but the problem is a big one.

He said the area's mom-and-pop marijuana grows typical of years past,
have swelled into large and dangerous operations with industrial-sized
environmental impacts.

"This is another example of how the industry is out of control," he
said.

Roush said the Red Mountain area is more commonly the scene of major
pot grows with associated immigration and contamination issues.

"There is more resource damage being done than people realize," Roush
said.