It’s Wednesday, 2:45 PM, and the eastern sun gleams through purple New England asters on Atwater Bluff, through fluffy grass-tips on the bluff-top. There’s always beauty around us for those with time to look, or for those who make time, which is what I’m doing.

And now it’s Thursday, I’m here again, drawing asters and wondering why more people don’t come to the bluff and the beach to balance out hectic lives. Tiny Shorewood has no shortage of parkland. It’s a village caught between a lake and a river, between At-water and Esta-brook.

 

And last week so was I, caught between river and lake bluffs that brim with native plants, and maybe a few invaders. But then, aren’t I an invader, too, as I walk through?

At the bluff near the waterfalls in Estabrook, bikers bike past, eyes on asphalt, fishermen watch the river flow. I hope they also notice that the plants deserve more than a casual look. A wide swath of gray, green, and purple cone flowers, liatris, coreopsis, sneezeweed, and Culver's root predominated last month, along with thistle, which I love though it’s invasive. Last Friday purple, violet, yellow, and white asters and goldenrod had taken their turn.

Of course I can’t fault those fishing for watching water. The reflections are as photogenic as the trees and plants they reflect. As I look around, think about the chaos of nature, how each bend of a branch, the intermixture of flowers on a bluff, the glow of sunshine on a petal, is unexpected, I wonder why anyone would poison the earth to have a million uninterrupted, predictable blades of grass in the front yard.

Three weeks ago Spence Tepper and I videotaped the magic of sun glowing through native plants on the bluff in Big Bay Park. And this morning I received an unbelievable message from Ney Collier:

Dear Suzanne,
For twenty years I have been working on Big Bay Park which is adjacent to Buckley Park. When I started it consisted of a forest of Burdock,  Garlic Mustard, Reed Canary Grass and Canada Thistle all of which are on the DNR's list of invasives.
   
Gradually I removed the invasives by hand, and the native plants such as Nodding Onions, Milkweed, Dwarf Sumac, Cup Plants, Woodland Sunflowers, Zig Zag Goldenrod, New England Asters and many others were able to flourish in all their glory.  With them came butterflies and bees.
   
On Wednesday 27th August and Thursday 28th August three large stands of native plants were mowed down.  The Cup Plants were in full bloom and were being visited by Monarchs and other insects.  People were horrified to see the plants chopped down. In addition pesticides were sprayed.  Spraying pesticides as well as chopping down plants not only removed nectar, but probably killed butterflies.
   
On the warning signs is written "For additional information on this application or any future applications call Village of Whitefish Bay 962 6690." I am trying to mobilize as many people as possible to call:
1.  Village of Whitefish Bay 962 6690 (Call after Labor Day, or you'll just get the police!)
2. Sue Black at 257 7275
3.  DNR at 1 800 847 9367 (This is the hot line number for reporting violations.  Cutting down stands of native sunflowers and spraying them with pesticides is a violation of Lake Michigan, the plants, and the children who play and swim in that area).
Regards,
Ney Collier  
 

One of the advantages to living in Shorewood is our proximity to UWM. This is self-evident, so I won't try to elaborate! There's also a downside to living near the university: when UWM sprays, the whole neighborhood is forced to inhale!

Last Saturday the fumes were so strong I felt nauseous when I tried to bike past, yet people sat in the TruGreen grass right next to the little white signs. They clearly felt that the university sets an example and practices safe lawn care. I called John Krezoski in the Safety and Assurances Dept at UWM (414.229-5265) and left him a message expressing my disappointment.

I'd been told he's the person to call since this is a safety issue. It IS definitely a safety issue, especially when the fumes are sickening and the lawn care company is TruGreen. One place out of many to get additional info on TruGreen is on the Refuse To Use Chemlawn web site. 

The university is worried about people who don't like dandelions. This seems strange to me since Warren Porter, one of the country's top researchers into the effects of pesticides, works at UW-Madison. Here's a quote from his web site: "Subtle Biological Effects of Environmental Contaminants: We have serious concerns about children exposed to low level pesticide mixtures from lawns and in the food, water, and air that passes through their bodies.  Children do not have defensive enzymes at levels present in sexually mature adults. Our 2002 paper showed that a common lawn chemical pesticide mixture can induce abortions and resorptions of fetuses at very low parts per billion concentrations. The greatest effect was at the lowest dose.  Thanks to Richard Dwelle and Dr. James Jaeger, we have an extraordinarily sensitive new means of measuring mouse learning abilities at many levels.  We are currently conducting long term studies to explore the effects of subtle low level pesticide mixture exposures on learning abilities, immune function, hormone levels, and developmental disorders."

Perhaps UW-Milwaukee could use some of the research findings from UW-Madison to educate the public here in Milwaukee. 

Last Monday the grass was green where snow had melted, and the streets looked clear, except for the cloud of fog that hugged the East Side. I figured I should bike to Trader Joe’s while the snow and ice were water. As I put on my helmet, I had to admit I was afraid, of ice patches, of drivers on cell phones, of predicted thunder storms, of being too old to bike.

I pedaled along Maryland Avenue, avoided a friend who stepped off the curb without looking, too busy listening to his iPod, he said. Despite my loud pink jacket, I felt invisible, mists never more than a few feet away. The fog wasn’t pea soup, wrong color, more like vichyssoise without the leeks. I started to think of new blogs, wished I had a little tape recorder. Passers-by would think I’m on my cell phone. I smiled, relaxed, soon was coasting down Hampton, and I knew why I was biking. It’s more than a matter of getting to Trader Joe’s; it’s being out in the world, not enclosed, cruising through outdoor air.

I walked down the aisle, skipped the bulky produce, zeroed in on cereal, tofu, polenta, thinking that’s what’s cheap at Trader Joe’s, most health food I get at Outpost, better to shop there, shop  local, calculating what would fit on my bike. Then a voice said, “Suzanne! How did you get here?”
“Oh, Ruth, hi! I biked.” “You certainly can’t carry everything on your bike. You’ll have to let me drive it back for you.”

I mention this not because Ruth drove my groceries home for me, though she did, but because she told me about her recent mammogram at Bayshore. She had asked her technician about the incidence of breast cancer in the area. The technician replied that it’s unusually high on the North Shore. I’ve heard that several times recently, haven’t read it anywhere.

The following day at the Fitness Center a friend told me that some of the young women who live near her have breast cancer, and one died, leaving behind two young children. Then she added, “So many of my neighbors use pesticides, I’m thinking of moving out of Shorewood.”

I guess some people are dying to have no dandelions.
 

I knew it was too good to be true, an aromatic autumn. And it was. On Wednesday, the scent of Shorewood changed. I received this message from Carol K:

“Workers from a private company (KEI) were out at 10:00 am this morning applying weed killer to ALL grassy areas of River Park (west end of Edgewood Ave.). Soccer fields included. I was cutting through River Park from the bike trail and could smell it in the air… Apparently it is one of two applications that the village of Shorewood has hired the contractor to do in a year. One of them being in September (the middle of soccer season!). Soccer practices are scheduled there every weekday (including today!!!), with games on Saturdays and Sundays. Not good for our kids, our families, our dogs…Can you help get the word out?”

I got the word out to my Grass Roots list and included the Email for the Dept of Public Works: dpw@villageofshorewood.org in case someone was unhappy about inhaling poison and wanted to complain. I then received messages about pesticide signs in Atwater Park and on Wilson Drive and a strong smell of pesticides along the bike path, and immediately sent another Email to Grass Roots and to the DPW which included a link to the Beyond Pesticides risk list.

I also included this article: (Beyond Pesticides, September 27, 2007) In a call for sweeping reform in Canada, the Ontario Liberal Party, lead by Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty, has called for the banning ban of all cosmetic use of pesticides across the province as part of their commitment to healthier Ontario families. Twenty five municipalities, covering about 30 per cent of the province, have already introduced local bans or restrictions on the cosmetic use of pesticides, those typically used on lawns and landscapes. Just as the Ontario Liberals replaced a patchwork of local bylaws when they banned smoking provincewide, this new pesticide and herbicide ban would create a single, comprehensive law for all Ontario communities. “There is growing concern about the potential harmful effects of these products on human health,” Mr. McGuinty said. “When there is such widespread concern, why would we take a chance with our health, and our children’s health, just for the sake of a few dandelions, or a bit of crabgrass?”

If you ask me, the Shorewood fireworks are the best, and I'd planned to go with my children, grandchildren, and a group of friends with their children. But now the pleasure's gone. Five days before the fireworks, I saw pesticide warning signs all over Atwater Park! The Department of Public Works knows these substances are too dangerous to use on school grounds, yet they sprayed Atwater Park just before the entire community will be celebrating there. We'll all be sitting on, picnicking on, poisoned grass. If we go.

Last year when preparing a presentation to the Village Board, I discovered that Shorewood uses 2, 4-D, an extremely toxic herbicide. Google it, and I doubt you'll want to sit in it or track it into your house on shoe soles. It is used in “weed and feed” products, was a component of Agent Orange; is linked to non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, linked to prostate cancer in farmers, is a known endocrine disrupter, causes reduced sperm counts and/or increased abnormalities in sperm. It's found in residential carpet dust up to one year after application outdoors on lawns. There's a lot more, including the research by Warren Porter, at UW-Madison.

Here are the protection specifications for people who apply 2,4-D: they must wear face shield, goggles or safety glasses, long pants, long-sleeved shirt, socks and shoes and chemical-resistant gloves. Perhaps that's what we all should wear to the Shorewood fireworks!
Nicole B just sent this letter to the Village President and all the members of the Shorewood Village Board, and I hope you, too, will let them know how you feel about this issue (their Email addresses are on the Shorewoodnow site):

Subject: pesticide use at Atwater park
Date: Sat, 1 Jul 2006 08:44:05 -0600

Dear Mr. Swartz & Village Trustees,

I understand that pesticides were applied at Atwater Park in the past few days, as evidenced by the many warning signs posted there. This strikes me as incredibly irresponsible, given that in a few short days hundreds if not thousands of residents, including many children, will come to Atwater Park to enjoy the Independence Day festivities. What is worse, most residents will have no idea that they are being exposed, because the application was timed such that the state-mandated warning signs will no longer be required on July 4th.

I believe the trustees have received ample information about the detrimental health and environmental effects of pesticide exposure, particularly the effects on children. They should also be aware that pesticide residues can linger long after warning signs are removed. I observed a board meeting on July 11, 2005, at which this very issue was addressed. Numerous residents expressed their deep concerns about the village's use of pesticides, and about personal experiences with cancer and other illnesses that research suggests may be linked to pesticide exposure. The board also received at that time a detailed summary of relevant scientific studies.

The board's response just one year ago was heartening; members suggested that in the future, Shorewood might implement pesticide-free turf care on public land village-wide and even share resources (eg, organic fertilizer) with residents to facilitate their use of natural lawn care. Spraying pesticides at Atwater Park days before one of the largest village events strays awfully far from the intentions expressed at that meeting.

As a resident of neighboring Whitefish Bay, and someone involved in educating others about the dangers of pesticide exposure, I can tell you that many people look to Shorewood as the leader of the North Shore when it comes to policies affecting health and the environment. My family has even given serious consideration to moving to Shorewood because of what we have perceived as forward-thinking policies.

I urge you to reconsider the policy that allowed this ill-timed pesticide application to occur. Furthermore, I hope that you will re-post pesticide warning signs so that the residents of Shorewood and visitors from other communities can make a more informed choice about whether to expose themselves and their children to these dangerous chemicals on Independence Day.

Sincerely,
Nicole Bickham

www.healthycommunitiesproject.org
A healthier community starts in your own backyard.