"How California’s Pesticide Regulator Spun a Concerned Community"

California's Department of Pesticide Regulation gave Ventura County residents a misleading story about why it had allowed cancer-causing pesticide to be used by strawberry farmers near a local high school.

"Ventura County politician Steve Bennett wanted answers.

He and his colleagues on the Board of Supervisors looked to Henry Gonzales to explain why the California Department of Pesticide Regulation had allowed strawberry farmers surrounding a local high school to use a potentially cancer-causing pesticide at unusually high levels.

So Gonzales, the department’s man on the ground in Ventura, put together a 44-slide PowerPoint presentation. He then emailed it to department leaders in Sacramento for feedback ahead of the March hearing.

The version Gonzales got back was heavily edited. Much of the information relevant to public concerns had been cut."

Andrew Donohue reports for Reveal August 24, 2015.