Don Huber, emeritus professor of plant pathology at Purdue University, speaks about glyphosate and its effects on the environment during his keynote address at the NOFA Summer Conference 2017 at Hampshire College.
Don Huber, emeritus professor of plant pathology at Purdue University, speaks about glyphosate and its effects on the environment during his keynote address at the NOFA Summer Conference 2017 at Hampshire College. Credit: gazette file photo

A mission of the Environmental Protection Agency is to protect human and environmental health. It is responsible for creating standards and laws that promote the health of individuals and the environment.

Knowing this, it is an outrage that the EPA has approved the most widely used herbicide, glyphosate, or better known as Roundup — a weed killer distributed by Monsanto. Despite mixed research, and denial by the EPA, glyphosate is a known carcinogen. Now, here in approximately 30 of our local towns, Eversource plans on using glyphosate to remove invasive vegetation around the power lines.

Vegetation removal needs to happen for maximum electrical reliability, but there are non-toxic methods that have been suggested for this to be accomplished. The Gazette article stated that the Department of Agricultural Resources this year approved Eversource’s program going forward for 2019-2024.

I appreciate the legislators who have received our calls and immediately acted upon this environmental urgency. However, based on the July 4 article, there is no indication that the spraying of this dangerous herbicide will be halted.

Karen Ranen

Amherst