Forum at 6 p.m. on Tuesday

SANDPOINT - As Bonner County prepares for another round of Eurasian milfoil treatments in Lake Pend Oreille, a group of concerned local mothers is tackling the question of whether the use of herbicides poses a health threat to kids.

The group of mothers is hosting a forum Tuesday to take up the public safety question. It starts at 6 p.m. at Sandpoint Community Hall and limited on-site child care will be provided.

The forum's keynote speaker is Caroline Cox, research director for the Center for Environmental Health. Based in Oakland, Calif., the CEH promotes alternatives to the use of toxic chemicals.

Cox, who holds a master's degree in entomology from Oregon State University, has been editor of the Journal of Pesticide Reform for the last 16 years and is a staff scientist at the Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides in Oregon.

As with nearly every topic in Bonner County's milfoil saga, Tuesday's forum is not without a dose of controversy. The presentation has inspired a spirited online back-and-forth between herbicide foes and proponents.

Herbicide supporters question CEH's agenda and Cox's qualifications on matters of toxicology. Ralph Day, a member of the county's Aquatic Invasive Species Task Force, points out that Cox is not a toxicologist.“I'm not sure why one would consider her to have sufficient qualifications to be an expert on the subject,” Day said in e-mail posted to the county's electronic mailing list.

The county hosted a presentation from toxicologist Bernalyn McGaughey in May, but some herbicide opponents maintain she was basically a shill for the herbicide industry. They regard Cox's research as an independent scientific review since it has no ties to the industry.

For its part, the mother's group emphasizes that it is not trying to add to the controversy. It is just trying to gather as much information as possible.

The group says it represents a broad range of families who have come together on a weekly basis to share in the joys and struggles of motherhood. With the onset of summer, the mothers said the question of the water's safety surfaced often.

The mothers began following the milfoil issue through community meetings to gain information and make informed decisions.

“As a group, we are not affiliated with any companies or particular interest groups; we are just a group of concerned mothers seeking facts. We anticipate a great community turnout,” Paige Wilson said in a news release about Tuesday's forum.