Harm From the Farm?

Of all the potential conflicts between Ventura County farmers and their urban neighbors, the most serious involve the pesticide methyl bromide.

The highly toxic chemical is used on farms to fumigate strawberry fields before planting and in cities to kill termites. It is scheduled to be banned worldwide in 2001 because it damages the protective ozone layer but is still used in California, where farm and chemical interests are lobbying hard to keep it legal.

After the Ventura County Grand Jury investigated complaints about the effects of methyl bromide fumes on residents of housing areas adjacent to cropland, it suggested last month that neighbors be notified of the dates and times the pesticide is to be applied.

Earlier this month, 18 east Ventura residents who believe they were sickened by the fumes last year tried unsuccessfully to block the fumigation permit for the field across the street from their homes.

In Camarillo, residents of the Lamplighter Mobile Home Estates are also fighting the use of methyl bromide on nearby fields.

In that case, the state Department of Pesticide Regulation has agreed to monitor the air once the chemical has been applied, to determine if it poses any health risks.

Here are two views on methyl bromide.