Representative Brad Witt or fondly called by many of his constituents as Brad Wittless has sided with corporate campaign donors against his community, his neighbors and all other Oregonians. Witt was not a supporter of Senate Bill 613. The bill would have done the following:

1.. The state Board of Forestry would be required to set protective no-spray buffers around homes and schools. None exist today.

2. Timber companies would have to notify neighbors before spraying. Today, neighbors often must listen for approaching helicopters as their only warning.


3. Timber companies would have to disclose what and where they sprayed. Currently, companies must maintain those records and turn them over to the state only on request.

Witt holds a powerful committee chairmanship and works closely with timber companies, and chemical companies such as-Monsanto and DuPont. Witt said he could not put one person's safety against another's. Saying that advanced notification of spraying might endanger the pilots because of eco- terrorism, even though there has not been an incident since 1981 that is 34 years! Really…..Mr. Witt you could have come up with a better excuse than that. But then why would you bite the hand that feeds your campaign, you have received approximately $50,000.00 in campaign contributions from the timber and chemical companies.

Is it so hard to add some safety guidelines to protect people and animals? I don't think so. All people are asking for is too have the option to shut their windows and bring their pets in so they don't get sprayed and get sick or die.

Witt and his corporate friends would not even agree to a 100 ft. .buffer around the properties they balked and refused protecting areas around schools. The spraying contaminates our drinking water poisons our gardens, kills our pets, our livestock and us. To think what it is doing as over spray just imagine what it does to the animals that lives directly in the woods, we are a shameful species and Witt is worse than all ,because he could have done something about it and has allowed the poisoning to continue with his blessing.

Witt claims to be a champion of the little guy -that is the most ludicrous claim and downright lie. Witt is nothing more than a corporate whore and a slave to organized labor putting the well-being of corporations and profits above people. Something he claims to be against. The bill that emerged from Witt's group required buffers to be studied, not adopted, and focus on strengthening punishment and response to off-target sprays. That's what industry had sought from the start. Witt sided with industry, leaving out any notification requirements.

Even though it is illegal to have spray drift off your property it happens more often than not. The EPA has documented that about 70 million pounds of pesticides are lost to drifting every year in America. This is a huge problem which needs to be addressed. Oregon has very lenient laws regarding this issue; the state of Washington has a stricter policy protecting its residents against toxic spraying by timber companies.
It is obvious that Representative Brad Witt needs to be reprimanded by the people in his district for his outrageous bad decision making on this issue. We in Columbia County have huge timber tracks and are subject to over spraying as well.

Witt probably has never seen the after math of someone who has been poisoned by herbicides. Go ahead and go to company paid propaganda lunches where environmentalists are not invited, a luncheon where those who have been directly affected are not invited, that's right Witt go get the scientific/medical proof that is offered by the timber and chemical companies so you can make an informed decision All I can say is a job well done.

Mr. Witt I suggest that if you are so ok with the spray that the timber companies use as being safe, I suggest that the next time the timber companies are spraying- you go stand in a clear cut and get a good dose of spray and finish frying what little bit of brains you do have.