California is one of more than 40 states that restricts how local governments can regulate pesticides.
Wilmar Mejia stood behind his pickup truck in the hills of Malibu, watching a hawk soar overhead. Ahead lay the job, a mid-century ranch house with a glittering aquamarine pool and breathtaking views of the Pacific Ocean.
California is one of more than 40 states that restrict how local governments can regulate pesticides. For decades, the state’s food and agriculture code has preempted municipalities like Malibu from limiting their use in almost any way. Activists say pesticides of all types threaten California’s wildlife, from the iconic monarch butterfly to the endangered San Joaquin fox. But the fight against brodifacoum and other similar rat poisons brought their movement mainstream — particularly after they were linked to the deaths of local mountain lions.
The poison’s fatal climb up the food chain is what led the Environmental Protection Agency to restrict its use to professional exterminators in 2011. Those restrictions have led to a surge in pet poisonings with other, fast-acting rodenticides still available at big box and home improvement stores, many of which can be harder to treat.
“Anticoagulant rodenticides are just one element of the larger problem of long-lasting poisons introduced to our coastal environment that place biological resources and sensitive habitats at risk,” state Sen. Henry Stern wrote in a letter supporting the Malibu ordinance. “I ... encourage you to take the necessary steps to protect our cherished natural habitats and wildlife.”
“I’m looking at what’s known about how these rodenticides actually work, and it’s a little hard for me to see how they’re having a significant impact on the immune system,” Poppenga said. “I have my concerns there’s not a true cause and effect that’s been proven at this point.”
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