Pubdate: Tuesday, May 5, 1998 Source: Toronto Star (Canada) Contact: Website: http://www.thestar.com/ Author: Tod Robberson, Special to the Star A TWO-EDGED SWORD FOR THE WAR ON DRUGS U.S. thinks deadly herbicide is just right for Colombia's fields BOGOTA, Colombia - It is 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 metres away. Dow Agro Sciences, the manufacturer of the herbicide known as Tebuthiuron, or Spike, warns customers never to apply it near trees, water sources or any place where it can accidentally kill desirable plant life. Dow specifically says this is not the product for wide-scale eradication of illicit drug crops. Which is how U.S. authorities want to see it used in Colombia. Dow, the same corporation that manufactured the controversial defoliant Agent Orange during the Vietnam War, is in the unusual position of siding with international environmental groups against a U.S. proposal to make Tebuthiuron a centerpiece in Colombia's war on drugs. President Ernesto Samper's government, which is under heavy U.S. pressure to to wipe out more drug crops, 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. Environmental groups and concerned politicians in Colombia are warning of potential disaster. "It's insanity," says 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 agrees. "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 says. "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." Colombia is the principal supplier of most cocaine and heroin consumed in the United States, and the debate goes to the heart of U.S. and Colombian efforts to curb that. The amount of land under illicit cultivation has nearly doubled in the past five years to around 60,000 hectares, according to government statistics. "This is a struggle that Colombia will continue to deal with, independent of what the United States thinks," says Attorney-General Jaime Bernal Cuellar. "If we can't succeed with the fumigation process we're using, we will have to try something better," he says. "At the same time, we can't permit the use of chemicals that might harm our environment and our people just because it helps the war on drugs." But Colombia's anti-narcotics police commander, Col. Leonardo Gallego, backs a change to Spike. The problem is that the more environment-friendly herbicide preferred by the Colombian government -- Glyfosate, known commercially as "Roundup" -- must be applied by crop-dusters flying slowly and close to the ground. And the crop-dusting planes are the target of guerrilla groups that protect illicit fields, labs and airstrips. Besides, Glyfosate can be picked up and diverted by wind or dissolved by rainwater, two factors that have radically reduced its effectiveness, a U.S. state department official says. The official says Glyfosate's rate of effectiveness was less than 50 per cent in 1996. U.S. Department of Agriculture herbicide researcher Charles Helling says Tebuthiuron can be applied from high altitudes and fast speeds in any conditions, with a far higher rate of effectiveness. He says 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. "Anyone claiming that fields where Tebuthiuron was used would be steralized forever is, well, just not telling the truth," he says. "We've tried it, in circumstances that we believe are representative of the real-world situation, and we found that, in most cases, we were able to replant on the same land within six months of the application." One industry observer who works closely with Tebuthiuron says 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 says. "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 describes 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 says. 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. But Colombia's deputy environment minister Carlos Fonseca, and Helling say deforestation and pollution caused by drug traffickers dwarfs the environmental problems posed by herbicides used in eradication. Massive amounts of chemical fertilizers are used in drug cultivation, they say, and rivers and streams near jungle laboratories are routinely polluted with chemicals used to process cocaine. "The amount of deforestation caused by coca growing is increasing all the time," Helling says. "That's the real issue."