Despite protesters’ videotape, witnesses and bagged clothing and swab samples, The Washington Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has sided with Pope Resources, saying herbicide protesters were not hit with glyphosate during an Aug. 19 protest above Discovery Bay.

“The accusations that the protesters were sprayed are false,” said Kenny Ocker, Communication Manager for the Washington Department of Natural Resources (DNR).

Ocker was not at the scene of the spray operation at a Pope clearcut where protesters gathered, but said he has talked to a DNR forester who saw what happened.

Asked to elaborate if he means no spray hit protesters or that helicopter spray pilots did not spray over humans, Ocker said he means that no spray hit protesters.

Ocker said his agency’s man on the scene, forester Ross Goodwin, said all but two protesters had left by the time the helicopter made its first pass down a slope parallel to one of the ridges in the clearcut. “The last two walked to the gate where one of the Pope foresters and our forester was,” Ocker said. “As the helicopter moved on, there were no protesters on the hill.”

Ocker refused multiple requests by The Leader to speak directly to Goodwin. “We’re not going to make him available to you at this time,” said Ocker.

DNR premature?

Hector Castro, Communications Director for the Washington Department of Agriculture, said the Department of Natural Resources’ declaration that nothing happened could be premature.

“I certainly wouldn’t say that before our investigators have completed their investigation,” Castro said Aug. 26.

The Department of Agriculture, which carries out all herbicide/pesticide overspray investigations, has received an “overspray” report, in which a person alleges they or their property got hit with aerial pesticides or herbicides.

Castro said his agency’s investigators can wrap up in a few weeks, depending on whether there are samples taken and sent away for laboratory analysis.

He did not take a position on the protesters’ samples. He noted that rules of evidence are strict. “With any type of investigation, you need some confidence in the chain of custody, so it‘s not to say we don’t take samples in that manner, but I couldn’t speak to what might be utilised.”

Castro said investigators can, upon completion of their report, make recommendations if they find sprayers broke state rules. That can lead to penalties or even license suspension.

In 2018, about three quarters of the Department of Agriculture’s 152 overspray investigations (most of which concerned weed killers) found violations.

Most overspray cases concern use of glyphosate and 2,4-D. In six of the 59 spray drift cases, investigators found violations with impacts relating to human illness or symptoms, according to the department’s 2018 report to the Legislature.

Pope’s spokesperson said their forester agrees with the account the DNR is providing. “We share the observations of the DNR,” spokesman Adrian Miller said.

At least one person has alleged to Port Townsend’s City Council that her car was sprayed as she drove past on state Route 20.

Ocker said DNR rules forbid spraying within 200 feet on all sides of humans on the ground.

He said DNR and Pope staff were aware of the people at the site and changed their operations to avoid them.

“Our forester was between the protesters and the site of the spraying and our forester was outside the boundary and did not get any drift,” said Ocker. He said the forester, Ross Goodwin, was outside his truck during the spray operation.

Ocker said DNR foresters have authority to shut down any spray operation if they have concerns and can even issue violations against spray pilots who violate the rules. Neither of those things happened.

Told that protesters and others have challenged DNR’s allegiances, he cited the agency’s mission: “to manage, sustain and protect the health and productivity of Washington’s lands and waters to meet the needs of present and future generations.”

Miller said Pope made different decisions about spraying in Kitsap County and Jefferson County for several reasons.

He said one of the company’s three units was small and the company was only targeting clumps of maple trees. The other two were surrounded by areas of higher population.

“We have found that conversation with several neighbors can be effective,” he said. But reaching everyone in a more crowded neighborhood is much more difficult.

He said the decision to use helicopter spray in Jefferson County was largely because of the sparse population, but that there will be roadside and backpack spray operations underway in Jefferson County through August and into early September.

He said there are some timber units in Jefferson County where Pope will not use glyphosate if other herbicides are more effective, but the decision is made case-by-case.