http://www.dailypilot.com/front/story/18894p-26573c.html
Daily Pilot (Newport Beach andCosta Mesa, California)
July 18, 2005
Termite trouble threatens day care
Condo board orders fumigation, but owner
of preschool says toxins could harm children.
By Michael Miller, Daily Pilot
Insects have arrived at Miss Sherri's Preschool -- and they're
starting to mark their territory. Their droppings are visible
on a child's toy stove that sits on the back patio under the edge
of the roof.
Sherri Turner, a resident of the Newport Terrace condominiums
who operates a day care service out of her living room, wants
the invaders out as soon as possible. But she's also up against
neighborhood authorities. The Newport Condominium Assn. board
of directors, seeking to quell the area's infestation problem,
has begun ordering the fumigation of homes with Vikane, a common
anti-termite pesticide.
The board claims fumigation is a safe and effective way of fighting
termites. Turner, however, opposes the use of anti-termite gas
in her home -- and fears the impact it might have on the 11 children
who populate it five days a week.
"The main issue is health for the children," Turner
said. "When you're in your home all the time, the risks are
higher. Some of my kids are on breathing machines, defibrillators,
putting things in their mouths."
Parents at her school support Turner's position and have petitioned
the board to use another method of pest control.
"Part of the reason I picked Miss Sherri's school for my
son to go to is that she favors an organic environment,"
said Kari Stade, who drops her son off at Turner's home for six
hours a day. "She keeps everything clean. If they sprayed
the house with chemicals, I might have to take my son somewhere
else."
Some parents at Miss Sherri's have already withdrawn their children,
citing concerns about the gas. But the board
isn't budging. In a pair of recent letters, Newport Condominium
Assn. attorney David Cane asked Turner to vacate her home when
the time comes for fumigation, and threatened to obtain a court
order for her compliance if she did not.
In the most recent letter, mailed July 12, Cane said the start
date for fumigation would likely occur in late August, and that
Turner's fears about contamination were unfounded.
"After considering the advice, information, and recommendations
of the pest control consultants and the Dow Chemical representatives,
the board has determined that fumigation is both a necessary and
appropriate means of addressing termite infestation within Newport
Terrace," reads the letter, which Turner showed the Daily
Pilot.
Cane, along with several members of the board of directors, declined
comment for this story.
Whether gases such as Vikane pose long-term health hazards is
a matter of contention. To fumigate a home, exterminators generally
tent it off for three to four days and allow residents to reenter
when the level of gas has dropped sufficiently.
"There's very clear directions on the label regarding clearing
the structure after fumigation, to ensure that there's no residue
left inside," said Rick Le Feuvre, the agricultural commissioner
for Orange County. "The key is that they follow the label."
Harvey Logan, executive vice president of the trade association
Pest Control Operators of California, and Marion Moses, president
of the nonprofit Pesticide Education Center, also said that Vikane
would not have lasting effects on a home once exterminators had
cleared it. However, a number of nonprofit groups, including Californians
for Pesticide Reform and the Northwest Coalition for Alternatives
to Pesticides, have long decried the use of toxins in combating
termites. Turner cites them as proof of her argument.
In addition to concerns for the children's health, Turner is
worried about the effect the fumigation would have on her livelihood.
The Newport Terrace resident, who has run her day care service
for about seven years, relies on the children's $38-a-day tuition
for her income. If she were forced to have her home gassed, Turner
said, she would close her school down for two weeks and lose the
tuition that comes along with it.
"What I would do is just completely move out," Turner
said. "I would close my school down, put all the stuff in
storage, and then redo the entire house. I'd repaint walls, rip
out the carpet, before I opened for business again."
Parents, who consider Turner's preschool both nurturing and environmentally
sound, hope never to have to reach that stage. Kellina Martin
said that if fumigation occurred, she would remove her 3-year-old
grandson, who is asthmatic and wears a nebulizer.
"He's very sensitive to certain chemicals," Martin
explained. "I don't even have him in the kitchen if I'm using
Windex or those kinds of things."