Field sprayed with RoundUp - horrible consequences for horses and humans

Dear Mr. Tvedten,

  I have been exposed to high doses of argicultural chemicals two years in a row....I have videos of the suffering of my thoroughbreds , who were burned to the point of losing the top layer of skin, blood tests, positive soil tests, positive pond water samples.. I have a video of the second spraying while they were spraying in 33 mph winds right at my farm.

  I was told it wouldn't hurt me, just wash everything and eat it.... I ate blackberries (after 8"rain and after washing it good) I was very sick and I can relate to you saying a person loses their ability to think...For 3 weeks I could not transpose a telephone number from my head to paper. I could not walk thru a doorway with out bumping the side of the frame.  The list goes on...... The first chemicals were sprayed in high heat and high wind, releasing Dioxins into the air.....I was an active broodmare farm and now cannot breed for the real fear of genetic impairment.....etc.....

  If this combination of chemicals did this to my horses ......what has it done to me....I have been diagnosed with RADS (reactive airways disease syndrome), damage to my heart muscles , altering of my blood, anti-nuclear antibodies elevated,  Our county by the government standards, list this county as a highly polluted area.... there is no large industry , no nuclear dumps, so the only thing is agriculture.....I know agriculture needs some pest control but here they rely only on chemicals and don't care how high the winds.....

   I don't know exactly where to get help or how to get help....Doctors are not very enlightened as to how to treat a patient who has been overdosed, and that's frustrating , the EPA in the state of Illinois seems to be running interference for the chemical applicator....they do not have state testing even for Round Up , one of the highest sold chemicals on the market.....Lab tests were not done in a timely fashion and were set aside..... I could go on and on at the ineptness of the EPA . but I feel I have burdened you enough.

I related to Bill Moyer's special , Monday nite.....dis-information, delay, mis-direction and open lies are business as usual in my state. I hope your efforts are taken seriously because we (here in the grass roots ) are slowly dying and the system has failed us.

   Thank you for your time and I hope to hear from you....

Elaine Zohfeld palomino@onemain.com 618-643-3004

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Dear Elaine, Sometimes I get so tired that I want to stop and then I read letters like yours. No one wants to fight the chemical (POISON) industry. Even Bill Moyers said that "they" had created "Better living". Doctors do not want to be hauled into court. Even when you prove that the chemical guys lied and covered up the facts for years with rooms of documents and evidence; the "industry' denies everything and lies some more. POISONS are not "safe" nor do they "protect". The "regulators" protect the poison applicators and not the public. It is a real mess and you are one of the innocent victims. I wish I could "make it all better" but, I can not. maybe we can! Keep on keeping on! Would you like to be on my e-mail list? Steve

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I have no idea if this will help as I live in Illinois, but I will happily give you a glimpse into my nightmare.

My husband and I own a small Thoroughbred broodmare and racing stock farm. In June of 1998, the farmer who's land adjoins ours had his field sprayed, what they call a killdown, in preparation for planting no-till soybeans. They sprayed in well over 25 mph and in temperatures over 98 degrees, both federal label violations. Most of the product ended up in my pastures and on my horses, my garden, etc. The horses peeled in bloody peel, losing their top layer of skin, I was told it was only Round up, to wash things well and I could eat the produce.... Not knowing anything about pesticides/herbicides, I believed the farmer and washed my blackberries very well and ate them, a week after they had been sprayed..... I got very sick.... for three weeks I could not transpose a telephone number given over the phone to a pad of paper...it had affected many different systems in my body, including confusion and balance.... The horses were no good to breed after that since the product when released to the air over 90 degrees converted to Agent Orange properties. The liver titers were outrageous, four vets gave statements that it was chemical overdrift.... and more, the list goes on.... I kept a daily journal and I notified the Dept. Of Agriculture, EPA state of Illinois.... I sent them all my information, including a video of the horses and their suffering.... then they, after 2 yrs. of wishy washy dialogue gave the chemical applicator a settlement...So clearly, when you say there is little reporting on the poisonings and deaths, you are probably dealing with the unwritten rule, of do not give out information, and keep the slate clean.... I was told I was the only one who had filed a report in 1998 by the EPA IDA...

Then, In 2000, May, the same company came in and applied chemicals again and overdrifted my entire farm again...Atrazine and Silica Dust, Metachlor...I believe this is why five months later I had to euthanasia one of my brood mares, since she could not breathe. I again reported it to IDA EPA . There are positive soil test, positive water test in our pond, positive tests in the garden and 400 ft. into out property line...AND I taped them in the act of spraying in 35 mph winds...the drift in on the video spraying my horses, etc. and the EPA is still trying to make it go away.... I sent a letter to our governor Ryan to no avail.... so pretty much, I expect nothing from the people sworn to protect out right to breath clean air and drink pure water...

I am now doctoring, and have been diagnosed with RADS, a form of asthma.... I have a heightened sensitivity of the chemicals being sprayed.... and have breathing episodes just by driving by the fields being sprayed....

I have been asked to write an article for our major thoroughbred magazine here and will probably do so...people need to know.

Good luck on anything you can uncover, there are alot of people being abused by the applicator companies, but just don't know where to go to complain. 

Sincerely, Elaine M. Zohfeld palomino@onemain.com 618-643-3004
 

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