Residents Say Weed Spraying Killed Oaks

Dismayed at the death of baby oak trees and other plants along their roadsides, residents who live near Mulholland Highway have accused county officials of “exuberantly” spraying herbicide to keep weeds off the roads.

Ken Wikle, president of the Cold Creek Community Council, said his property near the intersection of Mulholland and Cold Canyon Road was hard hit by the herbicide.

“They sprayed seven oaks,” Wikle said. “They killed two of them and the remaining five are badly damaged and may die.”

Other residents reported damage to additional oaks and native shrubs along the roads.

Representatives from the Department of Public Works said they would attend a meeting Tuesday night called by the Community Council to discuss the spraying.

Bjorn Evensen, a county road maintenance district engineer, has acknowledged that public works crews “did over-spray a few areas this time.”

Evensen said heavy rains forced workers to begin spraying later than usual this spring, and by then the weeds had grown higher. The workers applied the same amount of herbicide as usual, but the tall weeds might have obscured their view of some tiny oaks, said William Higley, the Department of Public Works area engineer who supervised the spraying.

“We specifically avoid spraying oak trees,” Higley said. “In general, the herbicide that we use will not kill oaks, but of course a baby oak is more fragile.”