In response to citizens campaigning on social media against the spraying of herbicides in local streams, Orange County officials have announced they will stop the practice in waterways near Doheny State Beach.
Community group members Creek Team OC there is calling a decision a great victory.
After three weeks of non-stop Instagram posts demanding the county stop using pesticides in San Juan and Trabuco, officials held a town hall in Dana Point on Monday.
More than 200 people filled the room as County Supervisor Katrina Foley announced that “for the foreseeable future, we will not use any spraying of any type of pesticide, Roundup or otherwise, at the station.” The audience squealed and applauded.
Foley said crews will remove plants from flood channels by hand or with machines while officials study options.
“We want to reduce the toxicity of the chemicals we use in the general public. That’s my personal opinion, which I think the public accepts,” said Foley in an interview after the meeting.
He said he has asked the Orange County Department of Public Works to stop spraying at flood stations in his county, including San Juan Capistrano and Dana Point. And he’s forming an advisory group to conduct a comprehensive review of how the county deals with unwanted plants growing in washes.
County officials have long used chemicals in the water to remove vegetation and maintain the carrying capacity of flood control stations.
Brent Linas, a San Juan Capistrano resident who started a community campaign last month, said it’s not over yet. Residents are concerned that herbicide runoff is harming wildlife and threatening human health, he said.
“We must help the whole region to end this practice,” he said. “The community has expressed that they do not want this practice to happen in their premises.”
Linas, a runner, started Creek Team OC An Instagram account after seeing changes in the way he ran along the San Juan and Trabuco creeks, where the green reeds suddenly turned brown and lifeless. He found out that this region uses chemicals like glyphosate, triclopyr and imazapyr.
The Instagram account has gained more than 5,400 followers since Feb. 6. Linas and other residents posted pictures of workers spraying chemicals and used artificial intelligence to create illustrations in the style of old movie posters and magazine ads, some with the slogan “Stop the Ecocide!”
San Juan Creek meets the ocean near the popular surf break at Doheny State Beach. Next, the group plans to have the county stop irrigation along the Santa Ana River, which reaches the ocean on the south side of Huntington Beach.
Foley said he always prefers to use less herbicide in waterways and filed a complaint about the use of Roundup in the San Juan Creek floodplain about a year ago.
“When the community gets involved and gets involved, it helps me to be able to push the plans,” said Foley. “This is an issue where I share their core values, and I want to clean up and clean up our district in a meaningful way.”
in meetingLinas praised everyone who participated in creating what he called a non-partisan group and in encouraging the region to hold a town hall.
“This is democracy, right here,” he said to applause. “We can change things.”
