Highway Department says herbicide spraying necessary

Recently some residents observed spraying of roadsides near Eureka Springs including areas planted with wildflowers. Concerns have been raised about the impact of herbicide spraying on water quality because of the area's highly porous karst geology. Anything spread on the ground can end up in local streams and underground water reservoirs that might be used for drinking water wells.

Undesireable side effects

Some types of herbicides have been linked to serious illnesses such as brain cancer, prostate cancer, kidney cancer, pancreatic cancer, leukemia, birth defects and fetal death. Retired Greenpeace scientist Pat Costner says herbicide ingredients can cause considerable harm to a wide range of species other than the vegetation they are intended to kill. There is particular concern about the impacts to honeybees, frogs, earthworms and, in this area, a number of endangered or rare species, such as cave fish.

Steve Lawrence, maintenance engineer for District Nine of the ASHD in Harrison, said the herbicides sprayed recently in Carroll County are used around guardrails, signs and driveways, and in areas where grass on the shoulder is taking over the road.

"We have reports we fill out each day documenting what we are spraying," Lawrence said. "As far as just spraying wide areas, we are not going out and killing all the grass along stretches of the highway. We are not doing that."

Weed-eating is costly

Lawrence said it would be difficult to weed-eat all the areas needed because of increased costs for labor and equipment. He said the amount of labor needed would have to be doubled to take care of all the areas with weed-eaters.

"If we had to weed-eat everything, I don't know we would ever get it done because it is a lot more labor intensive," Lawrence said. "In areas where we are not allowed to spray, we have to weed-eat and maintain those. To be honest, we are not able to do as good a job."

Where ASHD is allowed to spray varies from county to county. The ASHD Environmental Division in Little Rock sets those guidelines.

Phillip Moore, a botanist with ASHD, says the type of herbicide used on guardrails is Roundup. A chemical called Outrider is used on Johnson grass, an invasive grass that can take over and crowd out native species of wildflowers such as coneflower (Echinacea), coreopsis, showy evening primrose and butterfly weed (Asclepius tuberosa).

'Preserving natural

wildflower populations'

"We are losing more wildflowers to invasive species than any other reason," Moore said. "That is why you need to get rid of those things like Johnson grass if you can. If you have a big patch of Johnson grass, there might be some wildflowers in there. But Outrider actually promotes the wildflowers. This isn't just about beautification, but preserving natural populations."

Kit Shepperd, a resident of rural Carroll County, has previously observed ASHD trucks spraying wildflowers along Hwy. 187 near Beaver. She was concerned because she knows people who have bees and organic gardens nearby. Another issue is that the area being sprayed was designated a wildflower garden by the Chamber of Commerce.

The man driving the ASHD spray truck wouldn't tell her what he was spraying. She asked him several times, and he drove away without responding.

"I just don't believe the kind of herbicides they are using are safe," Shepperd said. "Whatever they are spraying, even if it is for Johnson grass, is going to kill other things. Johnson grass is very hard to kill. If it kills Johnson grass, I would expect it kills a lot of other things. Also, the creek runs along the road. It they are spraying that area, it has to go into the water. People drink this stuff."

Herbicide opponents would prefer right of ways be managed with mowing or bush hogging.

Mowing promotes flowers

Moore said the roadsides are mowed annually, which promotes wildflowers.

"If we didn't mow annually, the woody vegetation would take over," Moore said. "Annual mowing promotes the wildflower program."

Sometimes people complain when they see wildflowers mowed down when they are still in bloom. In cases of annual wildflowers, if they aren't allowed to go to seed, they won't come back the next year.

Moore said obviously mowing wildflowers in full bloom is not good. But highway maintenance workers have to start at one end of the road, and mow down to the other end of the highway.

"You can't mow everything at once," he said. "And if you don't mow, eventually you won't have any wildflowers."

Wildflower program

Some of the wildflowers that grow best on roadsides in this part of Arkansas include coneflower (Echinacea), Coreopsis tinctoria, Coreopsis lanceolata, showy evening primrose, and butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa). All are native species that thrive in this area of the country.