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Citizen concerns prompt city to suspend use of pesticide

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After several Madison-area families expressed concerns about possible dangers regarding the pesticide Roundup, which Madison has used in city parks, the city decided to suspend the pesticide’s use.

Although there are no apparent hazards with the use of Roundup, the city has determined that a panel of committees should decide on the future of its use.

“For the most part, Roundup is supposed to be a relatively safe herbicide, although I would like to see the use of it reduced,” said John Hausbeck, environmental epidemiologist for the City of Madison Public Health Department.

Approximately six-and-a-half gallons of Roundup have been sprayed so far this year in the city’s parks, more than the total applied during 2000 and 2001 combined, according to www.thedailypage.com.

For years, Roundup, of which the active ingredient is glysosate, has been effectively used throughout the city for weed control. As Ryan Mulcahy, assistant to Mayor Bauman, puts it, “[Roundup] was simply determined to be needed . it gets weeds out of the cracks in the tennis courts and in other areas.”

However, after the concerns were raised, Mayor Bauman issued a moratorium until Roundup was properly tested.

Three committees—the Public Health Commission, the Public Works Commission and the Commission on the Environment—will make up a panel to decide the future use of Roundup.

In addition to reviewing the safety of the pesticide, the committees will also look into any possible violations of Resolution 47.702, approved in March 1991, which called for limits on the use of pesticides in Madison.

“They want to see if any deviance from this policy has occurred,” Mulcahy said.

There are clearly a few families who are concerned about the pesticide’s use, and there is also a small contingent within the university which opposes the application of Roundup.

“Roundup is the worst thing in the world,” said Patrick O’Connell, a University of Wisconsin freshman who researched Roundup for his high school debate program. ” The only studies that have proved Roundup safe are funded by Monsanto, the company that produces it. I would rather drink sulfuric acid then a cup of water with Roundup in it.”

The future of Roundup is unclear at the moment, with citizens and city officials both unsure of the positive and negative effects of the pesticide. However, with a cold fall and winter around the corner, there will be plenty of time until the ground becomes green again and a decision has to be made.