Colorado Judge Rules Pesticide Spraying Qualifies as Trespassing

Thursday, July 12, 2012
In what could become an important legal precedent, a Colorado judge has ruled that the spraying of agricultural pesticides can be considered a form of trespassing if it impacts neighbors.
 
Delta County District Court Judge Charles Greenacre ruled in favor of Gordon Macalpine and Rosemary Bilchak, who complained that the spraying of Fyfanon, which contains malathion, by neighbor James Hopper endangered their efforts to have a certified organic farm. To be an official organic farm, no chemical spraying can be found on the property in question.
 
At least twice Hopper sprayed for mosquitoes resulting in the wind blowing the pesticide onto the neighboring farm near Hotchkiss. Hopper used Fyfanon because his wife once became seriously ill from West Nile virus, a disease carried by mosquitoes. However, Greenacre said that “Mr. Hopper, while driving on a road on his property, intentionally sprayed Fyfanon on plaintiffs' property to the south of the Hopper property. Plaintiffs, who were home at the time, saw the Fyfanon drift onto their property.” Testing by state officials discovered malathion not only on Macalpine and Bilchak’s property, but in their home.
 
Greenacre ruled that Hopper, who has since received training on how to be a better pesticide sprayer, cannot spray chemicals within 150 feet of his neighbor’s land and must monitor wind direction while spraying.
-Noel Brinkerhoff, David Wallechinsky
 
To Learn More:
Organic Farmers Win One in Pesticide Case (by Steve Weishampel, Courthouse News Service)

Comments

Tina Huston 8 years ago
I have a multiple chemical sensitivity disorder. Endocrine disruptors put my body into a serious tailspin to include tingling in my fingertips, heart palpitations, spiked blood sugar, plummeted body temperature, extreme fatigue, headache, joint aches...the list goes on. My neighbor just sprayed his acreage with a DOW chemical that has DANGER clearly printed on the bottle. The wind is blowing that chemical onto my property and I just got severely exposed while out feeding my horses. I've got muscle aches right now and my ears are ringing. There are plenty of natural ways to deter mosquitoes and toxic chemicals is not acceptable. People are getting sick from these toxins and it's not acceptable expose people, animals, and the environment to these toxins. Start doing your research on how to manage pests organically. There is a TON of information on the web about it and multiple choices on how to do it.
Georgia hopper 11 years ago
only once did we get spray on the bilchack/macalpine property, and that was because of a wind burst. they soon found several reasons to go to court. all but the trespass was dropped. as a courtesy to them, we started doing everything (and more)that the judge, two years, later required us to do! it seems strange that, even though the organic farmers hand book says the organic farmer has to give a barrier, we were the only ones who had to. they never gave anything and, on their property, there is a swampy area about 50 feet from our front yard but we cannot spray there. no one takes care of this area because it is so steep and rocky. it is absolutely useless land and we cannot protect ourselves from the mosqueitios that breed there!

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