Herbicide Drift and Trespass: Impacts and Implications

Kim Erndt-Pitcher, director of ecological health for the Prairie Rivers Network (PRN), will present “Herbicide Drift and Trespass: Impacts and Implications,” at 7 p.m. Wednesday, October 8, in room C101, Center for Natural Science, Illinois Wesleyan University, 201 Beecher Street, Bloomington.

Erndt-Pitcher’s presentation, co-sponsored by the Grand Prairie Bird Alliance, is free and open to the public.

Kim Erndt-Pitcher is the co-author of the study Hidden in Plain Sight: Herbicide Drift and Chemical Trespass: A Summary of 6 Years of Monitoring and Tissue Analysis. Erndt-Pitcher will summarize the results from the study and the steps that are needed to address this important issue.

Over the past six years, PRN has been monitoring symptoms of herbicide drift and damage to non-target broadleaf plants and trees across rural and urban Illinois. Herbicide drift — the movement of toxic chemicals through the air to a non-target site — is damaging wild and cultivated plants and trees throughout Illinois, threatening human health, and impairing our ability to adapt to a changing climate. The sources of drift are primarily from Illinois’ massive row crop industry but also include chemical lawn and turf treatments.