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Miami Passes a Resolution to Ban Glyphosate Like Monsanto Roundup

Amidst the growing awareness and concerns about both the safety and proliferation of glyphosate, the active ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup weedkiller, the City of Miami decided to ban its use within the city.

In a unanimous decision passed last Thursday, Miami started banning the spraying of glyphosate by city departments or their contractors, as environmental group Miami Waterkeeper reported.

“Banning the use of glyphosate is a great first step to take in improving water quality,… It is also beneficial to public health, as citizens of the city of Miami won’t be exposed to harmful chemicals.” the group said, according to The Miami New Times.

Miami officials are specifically concerned that runoff containing glyphosate might have contributed to the recent blue-green algae bloom and red tide that have been observed in the state last year.

Miami City Council Commissioner Ken Russell initiated the proposal out of concerns for the decay from pollution observed in Biscayne Bay, a large body of water that separates Miami from Miami Beach and is connected by the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway that flows inland along the coast from Boston to Miami.

He discovered Biscayne Bay’s pesticide and herbicide pollution was such that blue-green algae bloom surges that create red tide was beginning to overwhelm the bay. This not only kills fish and other aquatic wildlife, but it creates noxious fumes that are hazardous to nearby land animals and humans. (Source)

Russell reportedly inquired from Miami Director of Resiliency and Public Works Alan Dodd, who told him that the city had been using 4,800 gallons of glyphosate a year to kill weeds on Miami’s streets and sidewalks. Dodd has already put a stop on this particular use of the herbicide, but Russell decided to sponsor a ban so that other departments would also stop using the controversial Monsanto weedkiller.

“Water quality issues are so important to the city of Miami, and we can be one of the worst polluters as a municipality,” Russell told The Miami New Times. “We ask for residents to make a change in their habits and that they be conscious of what they put in their gardens, but when I realized the totality of what the city uses at any given time, we had to change our habits.”

The resolution went into effect immediately after its passage, which was co-sponsored by Miami Mayor Francis X. Suarez, according to the Miami Waterkeeper.

Miami Waterkeeper explained further why herbicides were harmful to waterways and marine environments:

Herbicides and fertilizers are often applied in excess to lawns and landscapes and can be lost to the environment in stormwater runoff and can degrade the water quality of streams, rivers, canals, lakes, and coastal waters. They can also contribute to the creation of harmful algal blooms and the destruction of critically important habitats like sea grass beds and coral reefs.

Miami’s decision came only three days after a study found glyphosate in 19 of 20 popular U.S. beers and wines tested, and the same month that another study found that those frequently exposed to glyphosate were 41 percent more likely to develop non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

Other cities in the State of Florida, Stuart and Hallandale, have also taken measures to ban the use of glyphosate in their jurisdictions.

Hallandale Bch, FL – Jan 9th, 2019 – The City of Hallandale Beach became the third city in Florida to unanimously pass a resolution in favor of banning pesticides and herbicides i.e., glyphosate (Monsanto roundup) utilizing non-toxic, viable alternatives.

In light of the Dewayne Johnson (Monsanto Cancer Trial) The IARC and the W.H.O., citing Glyphosate is a probable human carcinogen, and because glyphosate contributes to feeding red tides and cyanobacteria, the City of Hallandale Beach recognize a potential public health threat and will persue non-toxic alternatives to protect its citizens.

“We are especially grateful to Commissioner Lazarow for her constant effort and support of labeling GMOs, banning antibiotics in livestock, banning puppy mills and most recently, her support for the use of alternatives instead of harmful pesticides, herbicides & glyphosate. – The volunteers of GMO Free Florida”

http://gmofreeflorida.org/commissioner-michele-lazarow-champions-ban-on-glyphosate-in-hallandale-beach-fl/

In 2009, an independently funded research project by scientists at Bowling Green State University had already linked glyphosate from farmers who spray glyphosate products on their crops as a phosphorous fuel that has expanded and hastened toxic green algae blooming in the Lake Erie of the Midwestern Great Lakes.

The researchers commented:

It turns out that many cyanobacteria present in Lake Erie have the genes allowing the uptake of phosphonates, and these cyanobacteria can grow using glyphosate and other phosphonates as a sole source of phosphorus.

Our research is finding that Roundup is getting into the watershed at peak farming application times, particularly in the spring. (Source)

While the chemical industry captured U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says that glyphosate does not cause cancer in humans, the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer ruled it was a probable human carcinogen in 2015.

Regulatory capture makes sure that the poison industry stays afloat.

Likewise, the more recent court cancer lawsuit victory against Monsanto in California is also motivating other municipalities and countries to ban glyphosate.

Among the countries that have already have placed limitations on the herbicide or even banned glyphosate outright, includes countries such as:

  • Australia
  • Canada
  • England
  • France
  • Germany
  • Greece
  • Spain
  • Sweden

If your country is not yet on the list, you need to take some precautions by going organic, or take definitive actions that put pressure on the authorities to ban the poison from the entire system for good. Remember, glyphosate is not only present in food and drinks, but also in 85% of gauze, lampons and similar products that are already in the market.

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