Agent Orange-like Chemical to Be Used at U.S.-Mexico Border
Wed, 25 Mar 2009
Summary:
The most controversial removal method calls for helicopters spraying Imazapyr directly on the cane – repeatedly – until all plant life in the area is poisoned. The Border Patrol said that after using the herbicide, it plans to make the river’s edges green again by planting native plants.
Ah, I see… So aside from offering to clean up our borders, the Border Patrol is also offering to provide a service in removing invasive species and replacing them with natives? How very kind of them! The fuckers.
[Posted By ShiftShapers]
By Dane Schiller
Republished from TruthOut.org
Border Plants to Be Killed to Reveal Smugglers
The U.S. Border Patrol plans to poison the plant life along a 1.1-mile stretch of the Rio Grande riverbank as soon as Wednesday to get rid of the hiding places used by smugglers, robbers and illegal immigrants.
If successful, the $2.1 million pilot project could later be duplicated along as many as 130 miles of river in the patrol’s Laredo Sector, as well as other parts of the U.S.-Mexico border.
Although Border Patrol and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency officials say the chemical is safe for animals, detractors say the experiment is reminiscent of the Vietnam War-era Agent Orange chemical program and raises questions about long-term effects.
“We don’t believe that is even moral,” said Jay Johnson-Castro Sr., executive director of the Rio Grande International Study Center, located at Laredo Community College, adjacent to the planned test area.
“It is unprecedented that they’d do it in a populated area,” he said of spraying the edge of the Rio Grande as it weaves between the cities of Laredo and Nuevo Laredo, Mexico.
Wed, 25 Mar 2009
Summary:
The most controversial removal method calls for helicopters spraying Imazapyr directly on the cane – repeatedly – until all plant life in the area is poisoned. The Border Patrol said that after using the herbicide, it plans to make the river’s edges green again by planting native plants.
Ah, I see… So aside from offering to clean up our borders, the Border Patrol is also offering to provide a service in removing invasive species and replacing them with natives? How very kind of them! The fuckers.
[Posted By ShiftShapers]
By Dane Schiller
Republished from TruthOut.org
Border Plants to Be Killed to Reveal Smugglers
The U.S. Border Patrol plans to poison the plant life along a 1.1-mile stretch of the Rio Grande riverbank as soon as Wednesday to get rid of the hiding places used by smugglers, robbers and illegal immigrants.
If successful, the $2.1 million pilot project could later be duplicated along as many as 130 miles of river in the patrol’s Laredo Sector, as well as other parts of the U.S.-Mexico border.
Although Border Patrol and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency officials say the chemical is safe for animals, detractors say the experiment is reminiscent of the Vietnam War-era Agent Orange chemical program and raises questions about long-term effects.
“We don’t believe that is even moral,” said Jay Johnson-Castro Sr., executive director of the Rio Grande International Study Center, located at Laredo Community College, adjacent to the planned test area.
“It is unprecedented that they’d do it in a populated area,” he said of spraying the edge of the Rio Grande as it weaves between the cities of Laredo and Nuevo Laredo, Mexico.