A Morton farmer was applying pesticides on a farm near the Bethel Lutheran School, which was hosting a school event outdoors.
Katie Vandenburg, the parent who filed a complaint with the Illinois Department of Agriculture, said the farm is right across the street from the school and the farmer applied pesticides during high winds, which drifted across the street into the school parking lot where the school event was being held.
Vandenburg said parents later got an email telling them to have their kids take a shower because of the risk for pesticide drift. She added that is when she found a Illinois bill seeks to address her situation.
Illinois lawmakers want to address this problem by requiring farmers to notify schools and parks 72 hours before applying pesticides to allow parents decide how to best keep their kid safe.
Vandenburg said she first learned about pesticide drift when she bought forested land and noticed that the oak trees were curling, which led her down a rabbit hole about pesticide laws.
Vandenburg said the farmer should have known the pesticide could drift into the direction of the school. She said if a parent knows there was pesticide drift then they should file a complaint with the Illinois Department of Agriculture, which was quick to respond and start investigating.
“I had a phone call from them saying they were sending three inspectors out by noon the next day, which is incredible, and I'm thrilled that that department is acting so actively about something like this, that they really got on this,” Vandenburg said.
Vandenburg said the Illinois Department of Agriculture told them to put the clothes from April 23 in an air tight Ziplock bag and then freeze it to preserve the pesticides on the clothing.
Vandenburg said when talking with other community members about the farmer, she heard that the farmer is a nice person.
“[The farmer is] a community member. He grew up here,” Vandenburg said. “He's a generational farmer, but mistakes shouldn't happen where our kids' health is at risk because of a simple mistake. It doesn't take too much to send an email.”
Vandenburg said she receives emails when farmers are applying pesticides because she is a beekeeper and it allows her to put her bees in a safe area.
Illinois has a website where farmers and beekeepers can sign up to give notifications about pesticide application.
Vandenburg said as she did more research she found a bill in the Illinois legislature that would require farmers to notify schools and parks that are near their farms.
Vandenberg said the bill could make farmers double check they have done everything to keep children safe and make no mistakes.
“If this really was just a mistake, that reminder to the farmer, if we could get this bill to go through, I think that would make a huge, huge step forward in all this, and protecting people, because we're not the only ones that have dealt with this,” Vandenburg said.
Vandenburg said the burden should not be on the schools to keep kids safe from pesticides drift.
Notifications to schools and parks
Democratic state Rep. Laura Faver Dias, representing a suburb of Chicago, sponsored the bill to require farmers spraying pesticides near a school or park to send an email 72 hours in advance notifying when they would be applying the pesticides.
Dias said the bill could allow schools to plan around the application of pesticides, avoiding any risk of pesticide drift.
Dias said children need another layer of protection because the American Academy of Pediatrics advises kids to stay inside when pesticide spraying is occurring nearby.
“If pesticide applicators are required to take protective measures to keep themselves safe, then it seems to me that we would want to make sure that our most precious resource, our children, are also protected from these pesticides,” Dias said.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency [EPA], children have weakened immune response to toxins, which can lead to short-term effects like headaches, dizziness, or nausea. It can also lead to long-term effects like birth defects, learning disabilities, behavioral changes or asthma.
Dias said the bill would give parents the information to make a decision on how to keep their kids safe if a kid goes to outdoor spaces at parks and schools near farms.
The bill does not say what the consequences would be for not sending a notification.
Dias said Morton is in a unique situation because Vandenburg knew to file a complaint with the Illinois Department of Agriculture, which does not always happen. She added the situation could have been avoided if the farmer told the school he was applying pesticides.
“Then the school could have shifted and pivoted and held the event on another day, or in another location, essentially just planned around that, so they could have kept children safe," Dias said.
The bill is not expected to be called for a vote this year but Dias said negotiations are still happening with organizations like the Illinois Soybean Association [ISA].
The ISA said in a statement that they are working with lawmakers on the bill to make it work for farmers.
“The bill does not reflect the practical flexibility farmers need to make timely, on-farm management decisions. It also overlooks the science-based pesticide review and labeling process established by the U.S. EPA,” a spokesperson said.
The ISA said they support the proper application of pesticides in accordance with the law.
“ISA is aware of the situation in Morton, remains engaged with industry partners and is awaiting additional information and any official findings from the Illinois Department of Agriculture,” the spokesperson said.
Opposition to the bill
Republican state Rep. Bill Hauter, whose district includes the Morton farm in question, opposed the bill.
He called it another layer of bureaucracy for farmers.
“This would put more regulations on the farmers to have more time ahead of time for warning, when they don't know what the weather will be like at the time of application,” Hauter said.
Hauter said farmers who are going to break the rules will do it even with the implementation of a notification system.
Illinois requires farmers to apply pesticides below 10 mph wind speeds to minimize the risk of drift. The EPA also requires pesticide manufactures to label products warning not apply pesticides with wind speeds of 10 mph.
“They didn't follow the ones that are in place now, and they're not going to follow the new ones, but it's going to be harder for those farmers who follow all the rules to farm,” Hauter said.
The complaint said the Morton farmer applied pesticides with wind speeds over 10 mph. Hauter said the Morton farmer had to deal with changing weather conditions, which would not be addressed in the bill.
Hauter said there should be more focus on the schools having a medical response to the situation.
“It almost has to be like an emergency response to like when we have a tornado response or another response. How do we get those kids out of danger of the pesticide that's in the wind or in the drift? And so we need to have some sort of school protocol,” Hauter said.
The Illinois Department of Agriculture and the Bethel Lutheran School declined to comment.
