CSWD Provides Fact Sheet and Website Form For Reporting Suspected Persistent Herbicide Exposure

CSWD Media Alert
Thursday, June 28, 2012

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Williston — In an effort to keep their customers and the concerned public informed as they work to compile the most accurate and timely information possible, Chittenden Solid Waste District has posted several resources on the Green Mountain Compost website. “Our staff has been deeply moved by the many stories we have heard today from our customers,” said Dan Goossen, Green Mountain Compost General Manager. “We are all gardeners ourselves who feed our families with the produce we raise with our compost products, so we really recognize the stress this situation has caused and are working hard to make progress toward solutions.”

The information posted so far on both the CSWD and Green Mountain Compost websites includes:

• The initial press release issued on June 27, posted on the CSWD blog and the Green Mountain Compost News blog.
• An evolving Compost and Persistent Herbicides Fact Sheet page. We will update this page with new information as soon as we receive it.
• A page listing links to additional resources on Persistent Herbicides.
• A brief Form for Reporting Abnormal Plant Growth. This form includes the option of uploading photos, so visitors may want to snap a few before completing the form.
• For questions regarding the safety of consuming produce grown in soils suspected to have been contaminated with persistent herbicides, please contact the Vermont Department of Health at 802-863-7281. “We don’t expect that low levels of herbicides would cause consumers any harm,” said the Health Department’s State Toxicologist Sarah Vose, PhD, “but, as a precaution and until we know more, it makes sense to not eat food grown in what we suspect to be contaminated compost.”

“We are grateful to all of our customers for helping us compile as much information as we can on this issue as we work toward identifying what may be the culprit in these unusual symptoms,” said Goossen. “Please be assured that we will follow up with every customer affected.”

Contact:
Tom Moreau, CSWD General Manager
872-8100 ext. 209
tmoreau@cswd.net