Chemical Use by Oak Harbor Golf Course

Chemical Use by Oak Harbor Golf Course
Slidell, Louisiana

Petition for a public health assessment on the golf course facility was accepted by ATSDR on March 6, 1998 on the following issues:

Exposure to contaminants through private wells in our area may affect human health;
Contamination of the Schneider Canal with the Golf Club's discharges may result in human exposures through swimming, fishing, and crabbing; and
Information about chemicals used by the Golf Club and how they may effect human health.

ATSDR - Environmental Data Needed for Public Health Assessments

Update - ATSDR's Investigation

Think the U.S. EPA is keeping tabs on water pollution around the country? Think again.
U.S. Report Faults Efforts to Track Water Pollution

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Taken from the Summary of Environmental and Medical Data by the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals, Office of Public Health, Section of Environmental Epidemiology and Toxicology, May 1998:

"Oak Harbor Golf Course uses a variety of chemicals on their property, primarily herbicides. In the file there is documentation of 57 chemical applications at the golf course between December 1, 1989 and June 25, 1992. These records show that the following chemicals were used:

Princep Caliber 90 (herbicide)
LESCO Iron (Agri-Plex) (fertilizer)
Dithane F-45 (fungicide)
Bleach (to "burn algae off")
Scott's Fungicide VII
Bentgrass Selective (herbicide)
KERB 50-W (herbicide)
Scott's - Goosegrass - Crabgrass (herbicide)
Trimel Bent (herbicide)
Orthene R 75 S and 90 S (insecticide)
Triumph 4E (insecticide)
Sevimol 4C (insecticide)
Dursban 2-5-6 (insecticide)
Crusade 56 (insecticide)
Surflan (herbicide)
Pendimethalin (herbicide)
Simazine Pre-Emerge (herbicide)
MSMA - Bulgrass Formula (herbicide)
IMAGE (herbicide)
LESCO Three-Way Selective Herbicide
Ronstar G (herbicides)
Scott's Fluid Broadleaf (herbicide)

...first Health Related Pesticide Incident Report (HRPIR) was filed with the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry (LDAF) on March 19, 1992 and sent to the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals (LDHH).

On at least one occasion, Oak Harbor Golf Course was closed due to application of a restricted chemical. An October 27, 1992 letter from superintendent asks residents not to enter the golf course on October 28, 1992. The chemical applied was Nemacur 10% (or Fenamiphos - voluntary cancellation of all existing fenamiphos registrations rather than committing to develop additional data.).

On May 14, 1993, LDAF took one water sample from well. The water well sample showed Bromacil at 315 ppb. There was no record of this sample result in LDHH's file until a recent request was made for all sampling data from LDAF."

Our comments: Nemacur or Fenamiphos is rated by EPA as a Category 1 "Danger" chemical, meaning that it is "extremely toxic". The use of this extremely toxic chemical is highly questionable after official health complaints were made earlier that year to the proper state and federal agencies. A letter to OSHA from the golf course dated December 21, 1992 states "...all other employees were given assignments that did not expose them to the pesticide. The application was completed in the early morning and approximately one (1) inch of water was applied to the area. All employees were then sent home until the following morning". Furthermore, the letter states "All employees were informed that Nemacur was a restricted pesticide and did pose health problems".

Why were we left here without adequate information or warning? The golf course, which is enclosed by their 13' ring levee system, completely surrounds our property. Should we have been sent away from the area as all employees were? The letter we received from the golf course, which has been the sole notification we have ever received to date, states only to stay off the golf course. What was the true cause of our neighbor's illness? He was placed in a nursing home shortly afterwards diagnosed as having Alzheimer's. He stated in a letter that he had nose bleeds the size and look-a-like of chicken livers. He was later diagnosed with prostrate cancer and is now deceased. Aren't these signs of chemical poisoning? Small animals were found dead in both our yards after the incident. The Louisiana Department of Agriculture & Forestry refused to conduct any testing.

Obviously, government is reluctant to plunge too deeply into the development controversy of Eden Isles/Oak Harbor for fear it might be liable for enormous health care and environmental cleanup costs. Afterall, EPA warned in 1972 that the Eden Isles canals would invariably result in anaerobic and septic conditions, and accordingly recommended an environmental impact statement. No EIS has ever been done! Click here.

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St. Tammany Parish Government
Did the parish exempt the golf course from their law of Herbicides Prohibited by allowing continuous sprayng along side our fence and drainage/buffer area? Or did parish officials turn their heads the other way?

About Your Community St. Tammany Parish

Our complaint to David W. Hood, Secretary, LDHH

To contact the Louisiana OPH-Environmental Epidemiology & Toxicology: Public Health Assessment Program

New York State to Sue Dow Chemical Subsidary Over Misleading Ad "Consumers must not be lulled into a false sense of security by misleading safety claims," Spitzer said. "They should be urged to use pesticides only with the utmost caution."

Ban Dursban
EPA banned virtually all uses in residential and commercial buildings, however, professional applications on golf courses were retained.

Inert Ingredients in Pesticides: Who's Keeping Secrets?
Inerts identified in Dursban have been benzene, toluene, trimethylbenzenes and xylenes.

Common Insecticide Found Highly Risky in New Review An EPA official who asked not to be identified told ENS that, in light of the new risk assessment, the EPA will likely seek to curb the use of the insecticide chlorpyrifos or Dursban.

Dursban, Other Pesticides. Notice EPA wants chlorpyrifos (Dursban, Lorsban) and other pesticide exposure incident information

DURSBAN CASE STUDY: The Toxic Pesticide the EPA Has Declined (So Far) to Ban A must read article.

Toxic Chemical Soup, MSDS and Labels
No-Tox or Least Toxic Alternatives to Pesticides