On June 30, concerned citizens from the Oceano, Grover Beach, and Arroyo Grande communities sat down with the local ag commissioner and a representative from the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR). This meeting was months in the making, and although one of the key representatives of the citizen group, Karl Kempton, had requested it in the past, it was only with the prompting of 4th District San Luis Obispo County Supervisor Jimmy Paulding that this meeting was granted. The meeting focused on the issue of the pesticides currently permitted in the state of California, pesticide drift, and their impact on health.
California—although more progressive than most states in the country—still allows eight pesticides that are currently banned throughout Europe due to their adverse effects on health and safety for humans and the environment in general. One of the more egregious of these pesticides, chloropicrin, is commonly used in our county as a fumigant. This “pesticide” was called tear gas in World War I. Often, such substances created in warfare remain as stockpiles that chemical companies want to find uses for. Thus, we have tear gas being sprayed on our local crops, along with several other substances that are banned elsewhere.
Our ag commissioner and DPR rep reported to us that state requirements for usage levels and the distances they are allowed to drift are within safe bounds, as defined by DPR regulations. So, they are well aware of the fact that what they are regulating is poison. And they have instituted a program whereby citizens who live near fields can sign up to be noticed when spraying is to happen. Strangely enough, the attending DPR representative said that his family only eats organic produce. Thus, the person regulating the poisons does not trust the food that is being poisoned.
In the late ’80s and early ’90s, community health advocate Karl Kempton was instrumental with other neighbors in getting the Halcyon strawberry fields that used methyl bromide banned. He and his wife along with many other neighbors experienced many physical reactions—headaches, skin disruptions, pesticide cough and other respiratory issues, fatigue, emotional sensitivity, and other unexplained aches and pains—none of which could be explained. Yet all of them lived within close proximity to the strawberry fields. Once those fields turned into an organic farm, virtually all 21 recorded symptoms disappeared within three months. Kempton tried to explain that to the ag commissioner at the time but was rebuffed.
Kempton lives near the now organic farm. But there are several non-organic, regularly chemically sprayed fields surrounding the area where he lives. Being down this road 40 years ago, seeing signs and symptoms in himself and his neighbors, he collected the data and presented it to the current commissioner. The commissioner tried to reassure Kempton that the rules and regulations regarding pesticides were being strictly adhered to—which of course would seem worth celebrating for the community. Our local authorities are doing their job!
Officials are not blind to how toxic and dangerous the pesticides being used are, but rather than challenge their use, they have elected to stay within guidelines that are proving ineffective.
However, people’s health is still being affected. Officials are not blind to how toxic and dangerous the pesticides being used are, but rather than challenge their use, they have elected to stay within guidelines that are proving ineffective.
At this meeting, I told the DPR representative and the commissioner a story mentioned in a poem called “Ambulance Down in the Valley.” The story talks about a cliff overlooking a village where many young lovers would go to park. And unfortunately, they sometimes parked too close to the cliff and their cars fell over and crashed to the bottom, resulting in serious injuries, even death. Local authorities decided that what they needed to do was to create an ambulance system. As people crashed over the cliff, the ambulance came by and picked them up and took them to the local hospitals. Many people survived as a result, and it was considered a great success—even though people were still driving over the cliff. Then, at one of the town meetings someone suggested that perhaps it would be wise to put a fence at the top of the cliff to prevent people from going over the cliff in the first place. The town’s people were outraged. Why should they incur the expense of putting up a fence when there was such a great ambulance system down in the valley.
I told the commissioner and the DPR rep that the rules, regulations, and announcements of “drift days” were nothing more than “ambulances down in the valley.”
Our fields are being poisoned. The residential areas are encroaching upon the fields more and more. There’s a widening number of people who are suffering.
One need not wonder why these poisons are used so readily in our area. Our local agencies and educational establishments receive funds from and sometimes have close relationships with some of the chemical companies that create these products. Despite what is going on for the workers and the community as a result of poisoned food and contaminated water and air, someone is making money.
A representative from a state pesticide watch group attended the meeting with us. She told us that there are other county ag commissioners who understand the problem and are aware of and have acted upon the power they have to change the regulations around pesticides and pesticide drift. And yet, locally, there is little impetus to make the changes necessary to protect us, despite having the power to do so. But, if the people, our local state Assembly person, and county supervisors exert some political and morally conscious backbone to mandate change, it can happen.
We need to be vigilant and speak out and say that we want a fence at the top of the cliff. No more ambulances. Start by being proactive about your own health and well-being. Observe what you are experiencing and do some research. If you want some help and want to join in with those who are now standing up for you in addressing an issue that affects everyone in SLO County, contact the local citizens who have begun this fight for you so that we can compile more irrefutable proof that a sensible preventive approach to protect ourselves from being poisoned is what we want. ∆
Robert Sachs is a member of the San Luis Obispo Coalition for Pesticide Reform. Respond to his opinion by writing a letter and emailing it to letters@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in July 30- August 6, 2026.
