Each year, French Broad Electric sprays hundreds of gallons of dangerous herbicides underneath power lines to keep plants from affecting the lines. This is a noble service but a bad means of going about it.

You will notice crews dispersing heavy applications of herbicide each summer beneath the power lines, characterized by lots of dead plants. Although FBE deems these chemicals "safe", current research shows undoubtedly that they are harmful to humans, animals and the environment. These glyphosate-based herbicides are banned in many counties in the US and some entire countries. Glyphosate is currently considered to be "probably cancer-causing" by the World Health Organization and many peer-reviewed studies show its link to various chronic diseases. 

Furthermore, these glyphosate-based herbicides are supposed to be safe in waterways. However, research shows how they end up in the bottom of waterways where they do not breakdown and then end up accumulating in unsafe amount. This affects the health of aquatic life, including fish, such as the beloved trout. 

Power line paths were cleared manually for years before being given over to chemical spraying in an effort to save money. French Broad Electric is a non-profit cooperative and therefore if you buy services from them, you have a stake in the company. Their website says that as a consumer, you have a say in how the co-op is governed. Do you approve of known carcinogens being applied heavily to the land near where you get your drinking water?

French Broad Electric profits every year from their customer and these profits are reinvested into infrastructure, according to their website. Is public health not worth investing in? Could these profits be turned into perennial jobs for people in our community who could maintain these powerline throughways mechnically rather than with dangerous chemicals? It is costing our pristine mountain ecology and will affect our families and children in the long run. We can't afford to let this continue. 

We are asking that French Broad Electric begin to scale back the use of herbicide in the next two years and completely phase it out within 3 years. In the meantime, water quality & soil testing needs to be conducted to determine how these chemicals are affecting our environment and how they can be remediated. Please sign this petition to be presented to FBE and share with friends & family!