Hats off to CBS for this must-watch interview of Dennis Knepp and Jeff Haferman explaining the State’s egregious miscalculation of the deadly PM10 in Checkmate aerial spray.

Watch the video I’ve linked to and you will not only hear Knepp and Haferman explain the shoddy ’science’ CDFA is guilty of in regards to their wrong calculations of the deadly PM10 in LBAM aerial spray, but you will also see CBS providing a simple, graphic demonstration of why CDFA’s calculation was dead wrong. Knepp and Haferman have discovered that the amount of PM10 in the spray is not the 1.2% percent touted by the state, but rather that fully half of the particles in the spray are size PM10 or less! As you know, the American Lung Association uses the designation PM10 to classify tiny particles of 10 microns in size or less. This size of particles are inhaled into the deep human lung and cause chronic disease and death.

It has been my honor to be in communication with Dr. Dennis Knepp, and I want to take this moment to thank both him and Jeff Haferman for shouldering the burden of proof that our government has refused to take on and for proving, in my opinion, exactly why hundreds of families were sickened with respiratory illnesses in 2007, and why the aerial spraying must NEVER be allowed to resume in California. Thank you, Dennis and Jeff. You are heroes.

A Word from Mike Lynberg
Mike Lynberg, another of our heroes and the man responsible for championing the cause of all of the wrongfully sickened families of the Central Coast, has sent the following letter in regards to the release of the findings of Knepp and Haferman. Mike has been writing to OEHHA - the agency guilty of dismissing the hundreds of reports of illness when they were charged with the sacred duty of investigating the terrible sickness caused by the spray in Monterey and Santa Cruz counties. Here is Mike’s most recent letter to OEHHA’s agents:

Joan, Mary-Ann and Mark:

The independent scientists interviewed in this CBS-5 report are doing the work your teams were responsible for doing, but totally failed to do. Please share this message with those responsible for your cursory, unscientific and highly biased “Illness Report.”

Scientists Question Safety Of Apple Moth Pesticide
CBS 5 - San Francisco, CA,USA, May 7 2008

http://cbs5.com/pets/apple.moth.spraying.2.718614.html

You can view the most current, May 7 video story by clicking the thumbnail image on the far left; however, the other CBS 5 reports contain important information for you, too – again, things that should have been considered by the people on your teams.

As the USDA’s and CDFA’s reckless, poorly researched and managed eradication campaign moves to an area of more than 7 million people, I would hope that you are deeply concerned about the harm that could be caused by it. If not, there is something very, very wrong.

I would also hope that you are remorseful for the harm already inflicted on thousands of California citizens. Your lack of care and diligence has resulted in grave injury to many innocent people, including children. And we’re not sure what the long-term effects might be; neither, I might add, are you, since you never studied them.

The report below is further evidence that the spraying of pesticides on highly populated cities has been a grand experiment on the health of California citizens without their informed consent. I’m not sure how you can live with that!

As I’ve said before, all three of you owe an apology to the 200,000 citizens who have been impacted by your lack of diligence and respect for human health and safety. Moreover, you need to tell the Governor that aerial spraying should not resume before you go back and do a more thorough epidemiological study – in-the-field with interviews and a survey of all the people impacted, rather than a statistical analysis from the comfort of your offices in Sacramento.

As Dr. Larry Rose MD said in his alert to Marin County doctors, the fact that you “have not implemented or funded a well designed epidemiology study to determine scope and seriousness of the health impact on exposed residents in these two counties is far beyond irresponsible; criminal negligence would be a more appropriate label for the lack of public health follow-up.”

I’ve attached Dr. Rose’s alert as well as testimony by Dr. Elisa Song, a pediatrician who testified before members of the CA State Assembly a couple of weeks ago. She remarked, “OEHHA did not contact any of those people who reported illnesses or their physicians, and discarded many of the complaints as incomplete rather than following up and investigating them. This report was not a scientific study of the complaints and does not reassure us in the medical community about the safety of the spray.”

Nor does your work reassure the public, especially as new studies come out like the one reported last night on CBS 5.

Please remember why you got into your professions in the first place, and start doing what you can to protect the health of children, expecting mothers, the elderly and others.

Sincerely,

Mike Lynberg

Author of “Report on 643 Illnesses” and advocate for those who got sick – including my family and friends

VeganReader thanks Mike Lynberg for his persistence in reminding OEHHA that they have violated the trust of the American People, have wronged the people of Santa Cruz and are guilty of both professional and ethical misconduct. Like Mike, I don’t know how these agents are living with themselves, knowing the harm they have caused to the innocent.

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