The announcement follows an unsuccessful attempt by Monsanto in a trial court to stop the agency's action, which OEHHA first announced on March 28. Monsanto has called OEHHA's action unwarranted on the basis of science and the law and has vowed to continue its legal challenge. Monsanto's position on glyphosate is on the company website at this link. The federal EPA hasn't restricted glyphosate, which it regards as having "low toxicity."

The action by CA's OEHHA (which oversees implementation of Prop 65 as part of CA's EPA) doesn't ban Roundup or glyphosate; it requires a Prop 65 warning on the product to the effect that "This product contains chemicals known to the State of California to cause cancer." Under Prop 65, the warning requirement takes effect one year after a substance is added to the Prop 65 listed substances.

So...will the City of Long Beach continue using Roundup (sprayed by city contracted landscape management firms) in parts of Long Beach parks?

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The issue has been on the horizon for some time. OEHHA publicly proposed adding glyphosate to its list of Prop 65 chemicals in 2015. In November 2016, the Long Beach Unified School District opted to stop using Roundup. In 2016, the City of Irvine began using organic weed and pest control products.

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On a grassroots level, a Long Beach Facebook group -- the "LB Coalition for Non-Toxic Parks and Schools" at this link -- has repeatedly urged the City Council to agendize the issue for discussion and action. To date, no LB City Councilmember has done so.

Among those advocating an end to using Roundup in LB parks has been former 5th district Councilwoman Gerrie Schipske, currently mulling a write-in run against her successor, Councilwoman Stacy Mungo.

Councilwoman Mungo (whose district contains the largest amount of parkland in the city) stepped into the glyphosate fray at the May 23, 2017 Council meeting, after 5th district resident Raman Vasishth communicated the views of two unidentified women who he said had planned to speak but left when the Council meeting ran unusually long. Mr. Vasishth said they wanted to tell the Council that Huntington Beach and Irvine had banned Roundup and Long Beach should use those cities as a benchmark for weed killing.

Councilwoman Mungo replied in pertinent part:

...Huntington Beach does not ban Roundup. They have the same policy we do, that we don't use it in playgrounds. We don't use it play areas. We don't use it in rental spaces. We don't use it on fields. We use it in certain areas that we haven't found another solution for and we are, in certain areas of the park, in El Dorado Park specifically, trying alternatives.

LBREPORT.com notes that in early May 2017. the Huntington Beach City Council voted to conduct a three month test of organic pesticides in a portion of Huntington Beach's Central Park. During the Huntington Beach Council meeting, several residents urged their City to use Irvine as a model.

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If the City of Long Beach continues to use of Roundup in parts of its parks, might it have to post signs in its parks a little over a year from now to the effect that areas of the park contain "chemicals known to the State of California to cause cancer?" The California Dept. of Justice has a detailed Frequently Asked Questions page at this link. It indicates that all federal, state and local government agencies, as well as entities operating public water systems, are exempt from Prop 65 requirements...so we presume the answer is "no."

Developing.

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