'let Public Help Decide'

Just a little over a year ago, Ann Arbor changed from DDT to methoxychlor for its elm spray program. The additional money for methoxychlor was voted by the City Council because so many questions had been raised by concerned citizens of Ann Arbor about the dangers of using DDT. We had been using DDT for many years in the control of the Dutch Elm disease, and in the early years no one questioned its use. As a matter of f act, the whole World had been using DDTj for many things. Then along came Rachel Carson with her book, "The Silent Spring," which dramatized the mis-use of chemical poisons and gave us a warning that we must look carefully into each usage, lest we end by poisoning our own environment. DDT and the other hydrocarbons were labelled as special culprits because they do not break down chemically into the: soil, but continue to build up with each application. And they are not selective killers, but indiscriminate ones. This has been documented. They kill, not only the insect pests, but many other things as well. This is not to say that they must never be used, for in this chemical world we live in, we must balance the good with the bad and try, as best we can, to come up with the right answer. It is"not always easy to do so. But we must seriously question any and all uses of these Chemicals and use them only when absolutely necessary. Last Monday the Council voted to discontinue the use of j methoxychlor, a chemical which is much less injurious to wildlife (and also one which does break down in the soil to a harmless substance), and go back to DDT. This decisión was not really made by Council, but by the City Parks Department, for the Council had no advance knowl- edge that this move was planned. In the "Communications from the Citv Administrator" section this item was Usted only asi