Submitted by Greg Alderete.
Once again, the town of Steilacoom has chosen to spray Mirimichi Green Weed Control and Scythe herbicide—chemicals that are marketed as “natural” but are far from harmless. Let’s stop pretending that “green” labeling means these substances are safe. They are not.
Mirimichi Green contains ammonium nonanoate, a corrosive substance that can cause skin burns, eye damage, and respiratory issues. Scythe, powered by pelargonic acid, is a known severe eye irritant and can trigger respiratory distress when inhaled. These are not benign garden products—they are industrial herbicides requiring gloves, goggles, and masks for a reason.
And yet, we’re spraying them in public spaces where children walk, dogs sniff the grass, and families gather—with little to no warning.
This isn’t just careless—it’s reckless.
What’s worse is the short-term thinking. Because these products aren’t systemic, they require frequent reapplication, meaning more chemicals dumped into the air and soil, more exposure, more risk. And every time you spray, you’re playing roulette with people’s health—especially the most vulnerable: kids, the elderly, people with asthma, and pets.
This isn’t necessary. There are safer, mechanical methods of weed control. There are timing-based approaches. But instead, we’re choosing the lazy route—because it’s faster, not because it’s smarter.
If these products are so safe, I invite every decision-maker behind this policy to walk barefoot across the freshly sprayed sidewalk, breathe deeply, and let your children roll in the grass.
Otherwise, do the responsible thing: stop using chemical herbicides where people live, walk, and play.
We deserve transparency. We deserve warnings. And most of all, we deserve a community that puts health over convenience.
Totally agree. Town of Steilacoom administration has very little interest in being pro-citizen and being transparent, only in keeping the “war chest” of discretionary funds full. The use of pesticide/herbicides is classic example. Bad enough to use it where it might make sense, but it is used indiscriminately on grass and native plants as well as weeds. There have been a few notices put up after use but small children and dogs can’t read and most people won’t take the time to look at another piece of paper. Town admin. probably would say that’s not their problem, but it is. They should be serving the people, not blaming them.
I used to go foraging for a wild edible plants in Queens, New York. The custom there was not use
Herbicides.
Thank you for writing this, Greg. My sweet beagle got very sick a year ago after our walk in an area I later learned had been sprayed that very day with no warning signs posted. I no longer walk him in town.