I recently heard someone say that the only thing worse than scaring people is not scaring them enough in a situation where urgent action is needed to prevent serious danger.

Like me, I know each of you will be plenty scared enough after listening to Dr. Dennis Knepp on KGO Radio.

Dr. Knepp, a statistics and probability specialist, exposes a devastating error regarding the particulate matter in CheckMate and he accuses Dr. Robert Leavitt, Executive Secretary of the EATF, of deliberately misstating the particle size of the spray.

What is PM10?

PM10 is a notation used to describe particles of 10 micrometers or less. It doesn’t matter what they are particles of. It could be plastic, it could be sand, it could be a deadly chemical. Experts say that any matter that is PM10 or smaller is considered particulate pollution and is a cause of potential fatality in human beings.

The Statistics of Spraying 5 Million People

Around the country, there are air sampling stations that measure the PM10 in the air every six days. As an example, on a normal day in Watsonville, California, the ratio of PM10 is 19 micrograms per cubic meter.

In several reports released by CDFA, the public has been falsely assured that aerial spraying of CheckMate would create only minor, negligible amounts of PM10 in the air. However, they’ve made a tremendous error.

Based upon the new calculations done by Dr. Knepp, a single application of CheckMate would increase the ratio to 141 PM10s per cubic meter - almost 7 times as much dangerous particulate pollution!

In an average group of 5 million people, there are normally about 15,000 deaths per year from pneumonia and cardiovascular disease. By adding the deadly burden of aerial CheckMate spraying, Dr. Knepp has calculated that 1400 more of these kinds of deaths would occur within 2-3 days after each spraying.

CDFA intends to spray up to 5 nights a month, 9 months a year, for up to 10 or more years. By my calculation, that is 450 applications of CheckMate over a decade. This means that up to 630,000 deaths could potentially happen over the course of 10 years as a result of fatal contact with the PM10s in CheckMate.

630,000 deaths. Please look for a minute at that number to try to get a handle on the overwhelming potential results of CDFA’s heedless, reckless actions.

As you will hear on the radio show, Dr. Knepp is joined by Dr. Jeff Haferman, who explains that children, elders, and people with chronic illness will be LBAM spray’s first targets for disease and fatality. Those very elements of society which decent people try hardest to protect because of their heightened vulnerability are set to become the commonest victims of this intolerable aerial spraying.

I sincerely hope that OEHHA, CDFA, and our governor are aware of the fact that accountability is being pinned on their shoulders by our respected doctors. How, exactly, does someone attempt to justify causing 630,000 deaths, once they have already happened? One person after another is giving all they’ve got to warn these entities of the unforgivable, criminal health damage that will be caused by aerial spraying. We are ceaselessly warning these people as to the predictable outcomes of their unwarranted actions. We will hold them accountable for every death, for every permanent health injury, for every loss of irreplaceable members of our society. They will not escape the legal consequences of their arrogant and immoral actions.

Our warnings are a favor to them. When Drs. Knepp and Haferman explain what the real results of aerial spraying will be, they are giving CDFA and the governor a genuine opportunity to rethink their plan and save their own futures by halting any further spraying in California.

I want to thank both of these doctors and Ms. Craft of KGO for documenting this vital evidence about PM10 and human fatality. We don’t need one jot more data to be scared enough to put everything aside in order to fight and stop this spraying.

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