Whatever It Takes, Prevent Reoccurrence

We send our children into parks hoping they’ll find open space and plenty of green grass to play in. We hope they daydream in our parks, lie on the grass and look at clouds, run, shout, go about the important business of being children. Memories form in parks, the memories that grow with children into adulthood.

In Pullman, 9-year-old Ashton Satterlee loved the park behind her home, Lawson Garden Park. But one day, she discovered jugs filled with yucky. The stuff turned out to be liquid herbicides. The 15 open jugs were placed in bushes and vines for weed control.

Lab tests showed that several powerful herbicides clung to Ashton’s mittens and socks. Ashton’s chronic cough and other health problems are “strongly suggestive” of exposure to pesticides, according to her doctor.

Finally, after much complaining by Ashton’s parents and others, the case of the open pesticide jugs is being investigated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The jugs are gone from the park, but some troubling questions remain.

Why were the jugs put there in the first place? Why did the Washington Department of Agriculture play down the seriousness of the chemicals? A department inspector told Ashton’s parents that the jugs contained a solution less hazardous to people than “a cup of coffee.” Turns out the jugs contained herbicides mixed in a concentration more potent than federal laws allow.

The department also said it is not lax in enforcing pesticide laws, but is stretched thin, with only 12 statewide inspectors.

Maybe this park mess will provide a wake-up call for everyone involved. Pesticides in open jugs don’t belong anywhere near children. Complaints should be taken seriously and acted upon immediately. Inspectors should never downplay the dangers of pesticides. If the department’s inspectors are stretched thin, hire more inspectors. It’s as simple as child’s play.

, DataTimes The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Rebecca Nappi/For the editorial board