Pubdate: Tue, 28 Apr 1998
Source: Seattle Times (WA)
Contact:  http://www.seattletimes.com/
Author:  Tod Robberson, The Dallas Morning News

COMPANY FEARS USE OF ITS HERBICIDE ON COCAINE

BOGOTA, Colombia - It is a herbicide so strong that just a few granules
sprinkled over a pesky tuft of grass on a driveway in San Francisco killed
an oak tree several yards away.

Dow Agro Sciences, the manufacturer of the herbicide known as Tebuthiuron,
or Spike, is so concerned about its potential misuse that it warns customers
never to apply it near trees, water sources or any place where it can
accidentally kill desirable plant life. It specifically says this is not the
product for wide-scale eradication of illicit drug crops.

Now Dow, the same corporation that manufactured the controversial defoliant
Agent Orange during the Vietnam War, finds itself in the unusual position of
siding with international environmental groups against a U.S. government
proposal to make Tebuthiuron a centerpiece in the war on drugs in Colombia.

President Ernesto Samper's government, which is under heavy U.S. pressure to
improve the results of its drug-crop eradication program, says it is
reviewing a report by U.S. government researchers listing Tebuthiuron as the
most effective of several potential eradication chemicals.

The researchers insist the herbicide can be used safely while going far
toward putting drug traffickers out of business.

Environmental groups and concerned politicians in Colombia are warning of
potential disaster.

"It's insanity," said federal legislator Alegria Fonseca. "This chemical was
never designed for eradication. It was meant to be applied on weeds in
industrial parks . . . It is not selective in what it wipes out."

Dow spokesman Ted McKinney agreed. "Tebuthiuron is not labeled for use on
any crops in Colombia, and it is our desire that this product not be used
for illicit crop eradication," he said. "It can be very risky in situations
where the territory has slopes, rainfall is significant, desirable plants or
trees are nearby, and application is made under less-than-ideal
circumstances."

Decertification possible

The debate goes to the heart of U.S. and Colombian efforts to curb the flood
of drugs being produced and exported from Colombia, which is the principal
supplier of most cocaine and heroin consumed in the United States.

U.S. officials have made it clear that unless Colombia takes decisive action
to curb the rapid expansion of coca and opium cultivation, it could risk
returning to the list of nations decertified by Washington as allies in the
war on drugs. Colombia was removed from that list only last month after
enduring two years as an international pariah.

Despite a stepped-up aerial eradication program by Colombian anti-narcotics
police, the amount of land under illicit cultivation has nearly doubled in
the past five years to around 150,000 acres, according to government
statistics.

Guerrillas protect crops

Officials of both countries said the expansion is being fueled by guerrilla
groups who protect illicit fields, labs and airstrips, and who try to shoot
down aircraft involved in eradication.

"There are several problems preventing the program in Colombia from being as
successful as it could be," said a State Department official. With the more
environment-friendly herbicide currently preferred by the Colombian
government, Glyfosate, application must be performed by crop-dusters flying
slowly and close to the ground, the official said.

Crop-dusters are particularly vulnerable to anti-aircraft fire under such
conditions.

In addition, Glyfosate can be picked up and diverted by wind or dissolved by
rainwater, two factors that have radically reduced its effectiveness, the
official said.

Colombia's anti-narcotics police commander, Col. Leonardo Gallego, said his
forces sprayed Glyfosate, which is known commercially as Roundup, across
more than 45,000 acres of coca and opium fields last year. He described the
results as "good" but is backing a change to Tebuthiuron. A State Department
official said Glyfosate experienced less than a 50 percent rate of
effectiveness in 1996.

Benefits of Tebuthiuron

U.S. Department of Agriculture herbicide researcher Charles Helling said the
advantage of Tebuthiuron is that it can be applied from high altitudes and
fast speeds in any conditions, with a far higher rate of effectiveness.

He said he has tested the herbicide under circumstances simulating the
tropical weather conditions and topography of Colombia and found little to
justify the type of concerns expressed by Dow and environmental groups.

Some proponents of Tebuthiuron have suggested that Dow is backing away from
its use for eradication for fear that the company could become vulnerable to
lawsuits, as it did in the case of Agent Orange. Dow's McKinney declined to
address such assertions but noted that Tebuthiuron is not harmful to humans.

One industry observer who works closely with Tebuthiuron said there are a
number of conditions present in Colombia that could lead to widespread
deforestation if the herbicide is wrongly or accidentally applied.

"What if a plane is loaded with the stuff and it crashes or it takes a hit
from the guerrillas? If you have to dump a load, you could create a desert,"
he said. "This stuff is extremely water soluble. It moves with water. If it
comes in contact with the root system of a tree, that tree is gone."

Helling described the prospect of a crash or a guerrilla shootdown as a
"hypothetical scenario" with "a very low probability" of actually happening.
But an accidental release over a forest could cause "some temporary
defoliation," he said.

Environmental groups including Greenpeace and the World Wildlife Fund have
objected even to the limited testing of Tebuthiuron in Colombia, arguing
that the rainy weather, steep mountain slopes and heavily wooded areas make
it too risky for such an herbicide. Members of Samper's government also have
raised concerns but have expressed willingness to consider the U.S.
proposals.

Coca's environmental problems

Deputy Environment Minister Carlos Fonseca and Helling noted that the amount
of deforestation and pollution caused by drug traffickers dwarfs the
environmental problems posed by the use of herbicides in eradication. They
said that massive amounts of chemical fertilizers are used in drug
cultivation, while rivers and streams near jungle laboratories are routinely
polluted with chemicals used to process cocaine.

A 1997 U.N. report estimated that each year, more than 5 million gallons of
precursor chemicals like ethyl ether, acetone, ammonia, sulfuric acid and
hydrochloric acid are dumped into tributaries that feed the Amazon River.
Another U.N. report said that nearly 600,000 acres have been deforested in
the past two decades to clear fields in Colombia for coca cultivation.

"The amount of deforestation caused by coca growing is increasing all the
time. That's the real issue," Helling said. "The point I try to make is that
there is no biodiversity in a coca field. They're planting a mono-culture
with only one goal, and they don't care what happens to the environment."