[NENA] Fwd: Roundup in the Sandbox complaint

[Dobrina Teifel]

I sincerely apologize if I am spamming some, thought this may be a good 
way to alert parents that warning signs are not (or at least not 
always) being posted when dangerous substances are sprayed in 
children's play areas in Albuquerque parks. Below is what I sent to the 
Parks department outlining an incident that happened yesterday. I have 
no response yet even though I also called them.

> From: Dobrina Teifel <dobrina at teifel.com>
> Date: June 13, 2006 12:57:43 PM MDT
> To: parks at bernco.gov
> Subject: Roundup in the Sandbox complaint

to Whom It May Concern:

I am putting this complaint in writing hoping for a formal reply, and 
alerting parents in my neighborhood association that Albuquerque Parks 
and Recreation department applies Roundup in SANDBOXES where babies and 
young children play and are in contact with Roundup contaminated sand.


Today around 8:45am (prime time for park child-play when the highs 
during the day reach 95) in Loma del Norte park an employee of Parks 
and Recreation sprayed a substance in the sandbox on weeds that had 
caught root there, and on the sand itself. This happened within a few 
yards of me, my daughter and a friend of mine with her daughter. I 
approached the employee, obviously curious to know what substance was 
being sprayed in such proximity of 17 month olds, to be told that this 
is Roundup. I asked if he was going to put warning signs to mothers who 
would be visiting the park during the day that the sand was treated 
with a poisonous substance because little children tend to put sand in 
their eyes, hair, even mouths, but he told me it dissipates in 20 
minutes. I did not stop to argue that even if it dissipated so quickly 
( which after talking with the manufacturer hotline I know is a lie), 
he should put warning signs for the mothers who arrive in the park 
DURING these 20 minutes and are unaware the sand has been treated. I 
and my friend left the park immediately, warning another mother who had 
just stopped and was unbuckling her 2 children that the sandboxes were 
probably unsafe for the day.

I would kindly request an explanation of some sort why SANDBOXES should 
be treated with poison, isn't it safer to either let the weeds grow or 
pull them by hand (even my daughter pulls a lot of them, their root 
systems are not very intricate in the sand, so it should not be a 
problem)? Or, an even better and more economical solution for the city 
would be to make sure that sprinkler water does not drain into 
sandboxes as it does in Loma Del Norte and, say, Vinyard Park, which 
would leave the sand dry and free of weeds which need moisture in order 
to grow.

I am going to alert as many individuals of this as a violation also of 
manufacturer recommendations on the bottle which does not list 
children's playareas, especially sandboxes, as a safe place to apply 
Roundup to. In the mean time, if you again resort to this highly 
immoral use of Roundup, please at least notify the mothers who intend 
to let their children play that the sandbox has been treated with a 
substance that kills living matter and might cause serious injury to 
eyes and skin. You can do this by posting signs in the sandbox area. 
This is the first city (and I have lived in quite a few) that applies a 
poisonous substance to areas where humans (let alone children) can go 
into, without posting warnings even if it be of the kind "do not enter 
till 10 am".

I await your response.

Respectfully,

Dobrina Teifel,
R C Gorman Ave
Albuquerque
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