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RECRUIT RECRUIT RECRUIT
AFRICANIZED HONEYBEE CERTIFICATION
Due to low registration numbers we have cancelled the class scheduled for Wednesday, Dec. 14th in Montebello. We have sufficient registrations to continue with the classes scheduled for Dec. 13th & 15th. If you did not perform the AHB update as required, your listing for AHB Certification has been removed from the AHB website. In order to have your listing placed back on the website you must retake and pass one of the scheduled AHB Certification classes. See this NewsBriefs for links to registration for each class. The next set of AHB Certification classes will be scheduled sometime in the spring of 2012.
DPR PROPOSES RESTRICTIONS IN URBAN AREAS TO PROTECT WATER QUALITY
The Department of Pesticide Regulation proposes to amend section 6000 and adopt sections 6970 & 6972 of the California Code of Regulations (3 CCR). The proposed action would identify pesticides that have a high potential to contaminate surface water in outdoor nonagricultural settings and require pest control businesses, including maintenance gardeners, that apply these pesticides to take actions to minimize that contamination. The proposed regulatory action pertains to 17 different pyrethroid pesticides including Bifenthrin, Cypermethrin, Deltamethrin, Esfenvalerate and Permethrin. The proposed regulations would reduce the amount of pesticides available for runoff to surface water. Restrictions would include applications to soil surface, mulch, gravel, lawn turf or groundcover; horizontal impervious surfaces and vertical structural surfaces such as walls, foundations, windows, doors, fencing and granule formulations. In addition to DPR's proposal to limit applications to specific methods in order to reduce surface water contamination, DPR proposes to prohibit any application under certain circumstances. These requirements are designed to prohibit applications during precipitation that can carry these pesticides in runoff water to surface water and to reduce the amount of these pesticides that could be carried by rain water to surface water.
The PCOC Water Quality Task Force, chaired by Darren Van Steenwyk, is currently studying these proposed regulations and will prepare comments for submission to DPR. If you wish to comment on the proposed regulations please contact Darren Van Steenwyk at darrenv@clarkpest.com.
PYRETHROID INFORMATION WEBSITE FOR PEST MANAGEMENT PROFESSIONALS
The Pyrethroid Working Group is now offering an online resource dedicated to keeping PMPs abreast of new labeling and regulatory requirement related products containing widely used pyrethroid pesticides.
The site, http://www.pwg2pmp.com/, is intended to serve as the "go-to" pyrethroids resource for PMPs. Professional pest control operators may soon be required to make changes in how they apply pyrethroid pesticides. The new requirements contained in updated surface water regulations proposed by the California Department of Pesticide Regulation and in label changes required by the United States EPA will help ensure that pesticides are applied in a manner that minimizes runoff that may reach surface waters.
The website offers an overview of the new labeling requirements in development at EPA, as well as related regulations under consideration at the state level. The website provides PMPs with an easy way to monitor and participate in the regulatory process by enabling them to subscribe to email alerts which will notify them of new developments.
The Pyrethroid Working Group is comprised of the following companies: AMVAC Chemical; Bayer Crop Science; Cheminova, Inc; DuPont Crop Protection; Stine-Haskell Research Center; FMC Corporation; Agricultural Products Group; Syngenta Crop Protection and Valent BioSciences Corporation.
BANK ROBBER DISGUISED AS EXTERMINATOR
SAN DIEGO -- The FBI is searching for a man accused of robbing a Rancho Santa Fe bank while disguised as an exterminator.
According to FBI Supervisory Special Agent Darrell Foxworth, the unidentified man walked into a Pacific Western Bank in the 6100 block of El Tordo on Nov. 4 wearing a suit used by an exterminator and equipped with a dust mask and plastic pesticide sprayer.
Foxworth said the man then flashed a weapon and demanded money from the teller.
10News showed several San Diegans' surveillance photos taken of the bank robber, and some said the man looked to be more of a threat to bugs than people.
Jonathan Webster, who works directly above the bank, chuckled when he saw the pictures.
"Crime Stoppers, you're looking for what? A guy in a pesticide suit? [Laughter] Good luck," Webster said.
Webster told 10News the outfit may be the perfect disguise, and he added, "It's a way to get entry, and then mask yourself up and disappear."
Dana Evanson, who has banked at the Pacific Western branch for two years, found it more fearful than funny.
"First of all, who would want some unknown chemical sprayed [at] them?" she said. "Also, if somebody is crazy enough to do that, they could do something else, so I would comply with whatever his wishes were."
If sprayed, the severity of a reaction would depend on what's in the container, which investigators can't tell from photos.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION ON PCOC/UC BERKELEY GOLF TOURNAMENT
From: Gail Getty
Dec. 8th is our annual golf tournament. This is the only fundraiser event we conduct each year. Many of you have noticed a fee increase on the player forms. The good news is that the prices are the same. However, we found that 99% of you purchased the mulligan/putting green contest/raffle ticket packets so we added this as a player package at the same price as past tournaments. This will streamline the check-in process; no need for getting credit cards out, waiting for receipts, etc. Just head over and enjoy the camaraderie of the day.
This is our five-year golf tournament anniversary. Our grand prize this year is an iPad. We want to thank all of you who have participated in past tournaments with an overwhelming number of you playing in ALL past tournaments. There is the same amazing record with many of our sponsors. It's a day to have fun and celebrate friends, colleagues and the incredible industry we are in. Hope to see all of you on Dec. 8th.
Northern California Fumigators Note 50th Anniversary of Vikane® Gas Fumigant
Research and the 50th anniversary of the commercialization of the Vikane® gas fumigant were the focus of the Vikane Fumigator Group of Northern California, who met Oct. 13 at scenic Mountain Winery in Saratoga, Calif. The group of industry representatives heard a presentation by Dr. Vernard Lewis of the University of California, Berkeley.
Dr. Lewis reviewed the importance of research on the evolution of the structural fumigation industry. He began his research with Vikane in the early 1990s and it helped confirm that structural fumigation with Vikane eliminated drywood termites in entire structures.
Dow AgroSciences sponsored Dr. Lewis' presentation and the dinner. The event raised more than $2,000 to support research and public outreach of the Urban Pest Management Center at the University of California, Berkeley.
To conclude the evening guests each were presented with a 50th anniversary champagne flute etched with the Vikane gas fumigant logo, and a toast was made by Janet Rowley, West Coast district sales manager for Dow AgroSciences: "To the survivors of change, to the successors of change and to another 50 years together!"
®Trademark of Dow AgroSciences LLC.
Vikane is a federally Restricted Use Pesticide.
Always read and follow label directions.