Saratoga News

Resident gets no satisfaction in battle to limit fumigation

Mayor's satisfied with report from the public safety commissioners

By Sarah Lombardo

Saratoga resident Cheriel Jensen said she doesn't think it's unreasonable for residents to be notified and asked for permission if their neighbors want to spray dangerous chemicals around the neighborhood.

But when the chemicals are used to kill termites, and it's professional fumigators doing the spraying, city officials say there's no compelling reason to require the notification of neighbors. As one city councilmember put it, "Isn't the tent notice enough?"

Currently, fumigation companies are required to notify the local fire department of upcoming fumigation, in case an explosion or fire occurs on the premises.

However, neighbors are usually not given advance warning of spraying until a tent is draped over the home being fumigated. Jensen says that's not good enough.

"If a person is going to be poisoned, they should agree to it," she said.

Jensen would like the city to implement an ordinance that requires fumigation companies not only to make neighbors within 1,000 feet aware of upcoming fumigations, but to also ask neighbors to agree to it in writing--and she has requested such an ordinance under the Americans With Disabilities Act. The problem, she said, is that chemicals used during termite fumigation can leak out of protective tents placed over homes and drift through entire neighborhoods, exposing residents to dangerous chemicals. And those residents over time, she said, can be made sick by the exposure.

Jensen pointed to her own illness as an example. In her 14-year tenure with Santa Clara County, Jensen claims she was exposed to pesticides used at the county buildings. She said the long exposure made her chemically sensitized, a debilitating condition that can cause hypersensitivity to common chemicals used in everyday life and can cause symptoms from severe headaches to anaphylaxic shock.

In January, Jensen said she became ill and had to leave her home because a neighbor had a home fumigated. She said she remained ill for some weeks.

"I don't think it's reasonable or necessary to fumigate as people have been doing," she said. "There are alternatives that are both cheaper and safer."

In February, the City Council asked the Public Safety Commission to look into the city's fumigation policy. According to Public Safety Commission chairman Hugh Hexamer, the commission met with several officials on the subject in three meetings, from February to April. In a report to the City Council, Hexamer wrote, "Testimony was taken from the resident who expressed the concern, the Santa Clara County agricultural commissioner and two associates who regulate fumigation in the county and the director of PenWest, the area real estate association. Various commissioners conducted additional research involving the county biologist, fumigation companies, the state regulatory structure and the local fire services."

The commission also compiled data showing that during 1997, 424 residential properties were sold in Saratoga. Hexamer said that it is safe to assume that a significant number of the homes underwent fumigation in the selling process. In 1998, Saratoga fire department officials have been notified of 10 fumigations.

In both years, Hexamer's report states, there has been only one complaint.

And the commission came to the conclusion that additional policy on fumigation "would yield no overall community benefit."

In addition, the commission said the additional ordinance would add to the already large workload of city staffers who must enforce the ordinance.

Hexamer pointed out in his report that the commission "did not address the pros and cons of pesticides in the environment and related societal issues since that is well beyond the scope and control of the city of Saratoga."

Jensen disagreed. In a letter to the council dated May 1, Jensen wrote, "The Public Safety commissioners have effectively said that neighborhood safety from toxic chemical exposure is beyond the scope of their duties. Perhaps they should rename themselves the Traffic Commission, or more specifically, the 'No-Right-Turn-on-Red-Light Commission.' They don't seem to have a larger view."

Saratoga Mayor Don Wolfe, although sympathetic with Jensen's illness, said he questions if the call for fumigation legislation isn't more political than substantive.

"It's like asking the question 'Are you for or against clean water?' " he said. "I'm satisfied with the conclusions of the Public Safety Commission."

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