Termite trouble threatens day care

Michael Miller

Insects have arrived at Miss Sherri’s Preschool -- and they’re

starting to mark their territory. Their droppings are visible on a

child’s toy stove that sits on the back patio under the edge of the

roof.

Sherri Turner, a resident of the Newport Terrace condominiums who

operates a day care service out of her living room, wants the

invaders out as soon as possible. But she’s also up against

neighborhood authorities. The Newport Condominium Assn. board of

directors, seeking to quell the area’s infestation problem, has begun

ordering the fumigation of homes with Vikane, a common anti-termite

pesticide.

The board claims fumigation is a safe and effective way of

fighting termites. Turner, however, opposes the use of anti-termite

gas in her home -- and fears the impact it might have on the 11

children who populate it five days a week.

“The main issue is health for the children,” Turner said. “When

you’re in your home all the time, the risks are higher. Some of my

kids are on breathing machines, defibrillators, putting things in

their mouths.”

Parents at her school support Turner’s position and have

petitioned the board to use another method of pest control.

“Part of the reason I picked Miss Sherri’s school for my son to go

to is that she favors an organic environment,” said Kari Stade, who

drops her son off at Turner’s home for six hours a day. “She keeps

everything clean. If they sprayed the house with chemicals, I might

have to take my son somewhere else.”

Some parents at Miss Sherri’s have already withdrawn their

children, citing concerns about the gas. But the board isn’t

budging. In a pair of recent letters, Newport Condominium Assn.

attorney David Cane asked Turner to vacate her home when the time

comes for fumigation, and threatened to obtain a court order for her

compliance if she did not.

In the most recent letter, mailed July 12, Cane said the start

date for fumigation would likely occur in late August, and that

Turner’s fears about contamination were unfounded.

“After considering the advice, information, and recommendations of

the pest control consultants and the Dow Chemical representatives,

the board has determined that fumigation is both a necessary and

appropriate means of addressing termite infestation within Newport

Terrace,” reads the letter, which Turner showed the Daily Pilot.

Cane, along with several members of the board of directors,

declined comment for this story.

Whether gases such as Vikane pose long-term health hazards is a

matter of contention. To fumigate a home, exterminators generally

tent it off for three to four days and allow residents to reenter

when the level of gas has dropped sufficiently.

“There’s very clear directions on the label regarding clearing the

structure after fumigation, to ensure that there’s no residue left

inside,” said Rick Le Feuvre, the agricultural commissioner for

Orange County. “The key is that they follow the label.”

Harvey Logan, executive vice president of the trade association

Pest Control Operators of California, and Marion Moses, president of

the nonprofit Pesticide Education Center, also said that Vikane would

not have lasting effects on a home once exterminators had cleared it.

However, a number of nonprofit groups, including Californians for

Pesticide Reform and the Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to

Pesticides, have long decried the use of toxins in combating

termites. Turner cites them as proof of her argument.

In addition to concerns for the children’s health, Turner is

worried about the effect the fumigation would have on her livelihood.

The Newport Terrace resident, who has run her day care service for

about seven years, relies on the children’s $38-a-day tuition for her

income. If she were forced to have her home gassed, Turner said, she

would close her school down for two weeks and lose the tuition that

comes along with it.

“What I would do is just completely move out,” Turner said. “I

would close my school down, put all the stuff in storage, and then

redo the entire house. I’d repaint walls, rip out the carpet, before

I opened for business again.”

Parents, who consider Turner’s preschool both nurturing and

environmentally sound, hope never to have to reach that stage.

Kellina Martin said that if fumigation occurred, she would remove her

3-year-old grandson, who is asthmatic and wears a nebulizer.

“He’s very sensitive to certain chemicals,” Martin explained. “I

don’t even have him in the kitchen if I’m using Windex or those kinds

of things.”