Dear Editor,
After reading comments in your September 23, 2013 issue I felt I needed to respond to the letter in regards to the new power line proposal and the spraying of herbicides on our electrical right of ways.
I was a victim of indiscriminate spraying of my certified organic farm in 2009. I had written my letter and sent a copy of my organic certificate to Carroll Electric and met with the crew chief of Progressive Solutions that would be doing the spraying and they agreed to recognize my property lines and stay back away from them, so as not to contaminate my property with their spraying practices.
I jumped through all of their hoops and still my property was sprayed because the crew chief made a mistake in his flagging procedure. I lost certification of that property for three years and it took me three years and a very competent attorney to be compensated for my losses. Still the chemical is on my land and has contaminated the spring and pond on that acreage. That will never go away.
When you consider the thousands of acres that these utility companies are spraying with blanket disregard for water ways, karst terrains and our rights as landowners and correlate it with the thousands of cases of cancer and nerve related diseases that are rampant in our society today, only then can you see the bigger picture of the long term affects of these dangerous chemicals.
When you add the abundance of sprays used on many farms and by gardeners in our rural areas, it is even harder to get away from the killing fields that have arisen around us. The farmers of old did not need these chemicals nor did the utility companies, and we were still able to reap our crops and pay our utility bills.
This proposed massive power line, not only will be an eyesore, it will also allow a multitude of people access to your property, to do whatever they please. It only takes one person to make an error that will destroy your property value and contaminate it with unknown chemicals. If you think you have rights as a consumer because you are a member of your electrical cooperative, think again, because the board of directors you have elected are only out for their own good, and blind to the members that they serve.
So, all of you who are standing up for your rights as landowners and are questioning the impact of new power lines and new so called “vegetative management” practices, be strong and be aware, the devil is at your doorstep.
No matter what you do, no matter what you sign, no matter what they tell you will occur, do not expect the utility companies to stand behind their word or the word of any one that they allow onto your property. Mistakes will be made and thousands of more acres will be contaminated.
Kathy Turner
Huntsville, AR
Editor’s Note: Ozarks Farm & Neighbor welcomes all signed letters to the editor. Letters to the editor are published on a space available basis. You can mail your Letters to the Editor to: PO Box 6, Prairie Grove, AR 72753, fax them to 479-846-1003 or e-mail them to [email protected].
