Bio-Tech Awareness-Is Biotechnology used in Agriculture Really that Safe?

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BIO-TECHNOLOGY AWARENESS
Is Biotechnology used in Agriculture Really that Safe?

Bio-Tech Awareness
biotechnology, biotech, gmo, geo,
Wednesday, 13 August 2008 00:00 administrator
&l
NEWS FLASH: Decided October 23, 2008
Injured Workers' RICO Claim to Proceed Against
Employer and Insurance Company
FOR LATEST NEWS - VIDEO - AUDIO on DAVID BELL and AGRAQUEST
(the following links may be slow to load - please be patient)
~Workers Comp, The Destruction Of Ca-OSHA/EPA And The Case of David Bell~
MAY 11, 2008 - Labor On The Job Video focuses on the case of Agraquest biotech worker David Bell. Bell who worked at the Davis, CA biotech laboratory owned by former Monsanto scientist Pam Marrone was infected with fungus and bacteria while working. He and his family have faced a terrifying battle for healthcare and justice from injuries on the job. Despite the fact that his mother found material in his body that was patented by scientists at the laboratory he has been prevented from getting full healthcare to save his life. The corruption and breakdown of the workers compensation system is connected to the deregulation of workers compensation and the elimination of all medical doctors at Ca-OSHA. Joining the show is his mother Sandi Trend, the last Ca-OSHA doctor Larry Rose and author of "Death On The Job" Daniel Berman.
~Injured Workers Get Support from Ralph Nader At 8/1/2008 CCWMD Press Conference ~
8/1/2008 - Ralph Nader talks about "David Bell" and "Agraquest" on another video - to be released soon)
~ Injured Workers Get Support from Matt Gonzalez at 8/1/2008 CCWMD Press Conference ~
8/1/2008 -(Matt Gonzales talks about "David Bell" and "Agraquest" on this short video clip)
~CalOSHA: Going Down the Tubes?~
8/5/08 - Author: Lawrence Rose M.D., M.P.H. 28 years as the senior Public Medical Officer for the statewide Cal-OSHA
enforcement program (recently retired), Occupational/Environmental UCSF
~Blood, Phlegm and Tears~
10/16/2008 -Sacramento News and Review, Seth Ssandronski reporter
~ Did Davis Biotech Firm Expose Davis to Potentially Dangerous Pathogens?~
10/17/2008 - The People's Vanguard of Davis, Doug Paul Davis reporter
10/17/2008 IndyBay Central Valley | Environment & Forest Defense | Health, Housing, and Public Services
~ t;/span>Did Congressman Lungren Ignore Potential National Security Threat Posed by
AgraQuest's Importation of Foreign Soils?~
10/22/2008 - The People's Vanguard of Davis, Doug Paul Davis reporter
~KDRT 95.7 PODCAST~
10/22/2008 - LIVE ON DAVIS, CALIFORNIA RADIO - HOST; David Greenwald - with David Bell, Doug Haney and Sandi Trend
~ The Vanguard’s Article on AgraQuest Provokes Strong Response from Both County Health Director and Building Owner~
10/23/2008 - The People's Vanguard of Davis, Doug Paul Davis reporter
~Local Biotech Employee Says Health Affected By Work Officials Say No Threat To Public Health~
10/30/2008 - California Aggie, Written by POOJA KUMAR
~ California Aggie Covers Issue of Agraquest; Yolo County Health Discounts Health Concerns ~
10/30/2008 - The People's Vanguard of Davis, Doug Paul Davis reporter


~ A "SONG" FOR INJURED WORKERS THAT SAYS IT ALL ~
Listen to "Control" "Falling to Be Held" Label and CD order
(chorus) “YOU CAN’T CONTROL ME YOU KNOW ME,
I’VE HAD IT UP TO HERE WITH YOUR LIES AND YOUR TIES;,
WHAT ABOUT MY LIFE???” ~DAVID BELL'S WORKERS' COMPENSATION HORRORS CAN BE FOUND HERE~
ARE YOU A FORMER OR CURRENT BIOTECH EMPLOYEE WHO BECAME SICK DURING YOUR EMPLOYMENT?
Would you like to share your story on this website?
Please contact us by clicking "Contact Us" in the Main Menu of this site. Your privacy is important to us,
if you wish to remain anonymous we will honor your request.

DAVID BELL vs AGRAQUEST
~DAVID'S MISTAKE~
WAS
ACCEPTING EMPLOYMENT AT THE BIOTECHNOLOGY COMPANY, AGRAQUEST, INC. IN DAVIS, CALIFORNIA

On August 10, 1998 David Bell began employment as an Assistant Researcher-Formulations/Research Technician. at the Research and Development biotechnology company of Agraquest, Inc. The company’s location was on the corner of "J" Street and Kennedy Place; 1105 Kennedy Place, Suite 4 in a residential neighborhood, in the City of Davis in California. He worked in “Formulation Chemistry with lateral responsibilities in Fermentation/Microbiology and Entomology" and also assisted other Agraquest scientists with their projects and/or experiments. His position was full-time, temporary, for an estimated term of 6 months to one year. David understood his position at Agraquest was unlikely to become long term and permanent with benefits, but he wanted to gain some experience in the field he had chosen before completing his Bachelor of Science Degree with a major in biology and a minor in chemistry.

The pictures above and below show the Kennedy Place location where David began working as an intern for Agraquest, and is the same location where he became very ill. The 700 square foot laboratory where David began working at Agraquest was shared with other Agraquest scientists who were also working on their projects and/or experiments. There were approximately 25 employees at Agraquest at this 1105 Kennedy Place location.



The published article: “Green' solutions to pests have firm seeing green” written by Cory Golden, staff writer for the Davis Enterprise clearly describes just how small the Agraquest Lab was on Kennedy Place; “Then: Using $500,000, much of it from friends and family or pulled from their own wallets, Pam Marrone, two other executives and three scientists started a biopesticide company, AgraQuest Inc. With used furniture and equipment, they opened a 700- square-foot lab on J Street in Davis in 1995, attempting to discover, develop and market environmentally friendly products that worked as well, cost as much and had the shelf life of chemicals. Now: Marrone, AgraQuest's president and chief executive officer, leads a company with about 50 employees: 28 at a 13,000-square-foot lab at 1530 Drew Ave. in South Davis, 16 at a manufacturing plant in Tlaxcala, Mexico, the rest support staff in the field.”.

Verification of David Bell's title and his some of his duties can be viewed in the LETTER OF JOB OFFER and the April 27, 1999 LETTER OF RECOMMENDATION David received from his supervisor, Laura Cunningham-Hilbig).

~A LITTLE ON AGRAQUEST~

~A COMPANY THAT SEARCHES “THROUGHOUT THE WORLD” FOR THE "NOVEL" MICROORGANISM (FUNGUS, BACTERIA ETC.) TO BE USED FOR PESTICIDES, INSECTICIDES, FUNGICIDES, MICOCIDES, ETC.~

Agraquest and/or it’s representatives have made public where they search for these microorganisms in soil, plants, plant roots, lichen, leaves and/or it’s litter, mulch and other decaying organic matter, fruit, bird feathers, dead insects, lake beds, forests, dunes and ocean caves, animals from terrestrial sources, marine sources (sponges, sea urchins, etc.) insects of all kinds, rain forests, jungles, dry creek beds, orchards, farm fields, and gardens. This is only what has been published. (This information was obtained through searching articles and interviews by or about Agraquest. (This information was obtained through searching articles and interviews by or about Agraquest. “Excerpts” from these references can be viewed [ HERE ]

In the 1998, the web archive of the article, "Hunting for Microbes” written by Ralph Sinbaldi, PhD (founding Vice President of AgraQuest) further documents just where Agraquest does it’s searching for the “novel” microorganism. Quoting from this article, “Our goal is to isolate 20,000 microbes by August 1996. AQ already has agreements to obtain a comparable number of microbes through outside collaborations. We have already established cooperative discovery efforts with several groups and are getting microbes from exotic locations like New Zealand, the Amazon and Mexico.” , “Soil is a good source of microbes and is one of our primary sources" and "AQ is collaborating with Dr. Ted Molinski of the University of California, Davis in our search for marine microbes.”

Because Agraquest "brings in" or "receives" microorganisms (fungus, bacteria etc.)" from other countries that are not endemic to the United States (the constant presence within a given geographic area or population group area), the question is, WHAT WAS IN THE WORKPLACE ENVIRONMENT THAT DAVID BELL WORKED IN? It is also in question whether the small laboratory of Agraquest at Kennedy Place had the proper bio-safety levels as required by law.

Dr. Larry Rose, the author of "CalOSHA: Going Down the Tubes?" and prior to his retirement was the senior Public Medical Officer (Chief of the Medical Unit) for the statewide Cal-OSHA enforcement program for 28 years is very clear in expressing his concerns on these issues in his interview by Steve Zeltzer on the May 2008 Labor on the Job Video Project, Workers Comp, The Destruction Of Ca-OSHA/EPA And The Case of David Bell. In this compelling video Dr. Rose says among other things, "First off, if you’re using pathogenic organisms that’s not exactly organic…. that’s a risk not only the environment, the workers… but also possibly the food Consumers as well.”, “I’d like to inject here that the way they classify biosafety in labs is they classify it 1 through 4. Say the most hazardous, say like anthrax would be a 4 so you have to have like space suits and total control. Now if these were pathogens he was working with it sounds that should rate very high in biosafety requirements.”, "If they’re using potentially pathogenic microorganisms to spread on… you know, vast areas of the environment in relation to say, specific what they call pests the first thing you would have to determine if OSHA went in there… and what I can…. I’ll get the record but from what I can tell first thing they would’ve had to have was either a microbiologist or a Doctor, a public health Doctor to look at how pathogenic are these organisms. Are they as bad as, say Anthrax? Could they be? And then you have to determine do they have the proper level of bio safety? And then you don’t go and just look at the face velocity of a vertical lamenter flow hood… that’s nonsense! What you do is then you go back and you say, “you’ve got the wrong level”. you cite them and you require them to get the right level of bio safety and the other things… not spread the agent around in the neighborhood and that would be the Approach…. and if they don’t have a Doctor at Cal/OSHA to do that or…. you know…. then … they’re going in blind.”, “When you’re called in and a worker has possibly picked up a very serious infectious disease from the work Process, you don’t just go in and measure a face velocity and give a tag. You’ve gotta do some… you know real investigation. Go over all the medical records and you’ve got to get the Organism and submit it to the proper lab to determine it’s patogenicity. In other words, there’s a series of steps you would take because you’re not only trying to protect all the workers there now and future workers, but you also have to protect the community when you’re talking about an infectious disease, this is a serious public health matter. So looking at what OSHA did and I’m just astounded that they had that kind of very weak response, inappropriate response according to the law. The law states that you have to have to go through this kind of process and you certainly can’t fire a worker whose complaining. Also, OSHA should have responded within 72 hours, that’s required by law in this kind of.. you know, complaint. I don’t know what they Were doing, but they obviously handled the thing illegally.”

~WHAT WAS IN THE “DRUM” THAT WAS LABELED, “GERMANY AQ 153”?~


While Agraquest was still located at the Kennedy Place location, David was instructed to pick up a DRUM (with the wording, "Germany AQ 153" on it) from an offsite "testing" farm. Upon returning to the Agraquest lab he asked what he should do with the liquid that remained in the DRUM. He was instructed to "dump it" (liquid) in the outside “drain" and clean it out so it could be used for future fermentation broth. Soon thereafter David started getting sick. Months later, after David had left Agraquest he was told by the receptionists that around the same time he got sick that 11 other employees called in sick. The receptionist was told to "shut" and "lock" the lab door. He was horrified because as he said, "If I had known when I went back to work [after his emergency sinus surgery] I would have called the Health Department, epidemiologists...."

On August 13, 2006 it was investigated (and pictures were taken) as to just where this outside “drain” was at the Agraquest Kennedy Place location where David was instructed to not only dump the liquid from the drum retrieved at the offsite farm but where he had always been told to dump “liquid”. It is horrific to believe ANY biotechnology company, who screens microorganisms that are found around the globe and conducts experiments, would dump ANY substance in an outside drain.

~ WHAT WAS FOUND AT THE 1105 KENNEDY PLACE LOCATION WAS QUITE ALARMING ~



THIS "DRAIN" IS MERELY THE HOLLOWING OUT OF THE SIDEWALK
An additional slab of hollowed-out concrete was added. that led directly to and dumped onto the ground. The end of the “drain” is located next to the corner of the building and runs parallel to) the exterior wall of the Agraquest biotechnology Research and Development laboratory facing J Street.


The end of the drain sits flush with the corner of the building. (While David still worked at the Kennedy Place Location the hollowing out of the "drain" had not been jackhammered out as is shown in these pictures.)

Around the corner of the building and the end of the drain was the "irrigation control valve"








Apartment complex's are located directly across the street from the backof the building where the old Agraquest laboratory was located and where the end of the "drain" faces. These apartments are located on the corner of J Street and Kennedy Place. Additionally, single family dwellings and senior housing are located within direct proximity to the old Agraquest Laboratory where David became so ill.


~ FOUND ON THE FAUCET ~



;What was also found on August 13, 2006 was a dripping faucet with "GUNK" hanging off of it. This is also on the same exterior wall where the old Agraquest lab was located and is on the same side of the building where the "drain" is.


(In 2008 another wall had been placed next to the sidewalk with a new faucet installed and dirt has been placed between the building's exterior wall and the new wall containing a high flower bed.)





"NONE" OF THE "OTHER" FAUCETS LOOKED LIKE THE FAUCET WITH "GUNK"



Pictures of the "other" faucets at the same 1105 Kennedy Place location



(taken the same day as the above picture with "gunk" on the faucet).




Additionally, the building next to 1105 Kennedy Place (including ALL the other office buildings) had "clean" faucets as is shown above and to the left.


~ FOUND UNDER THE FAUCET WITH "GUNK"~

Below the "gunky" dripping faucet was a dead crow. It appeared the crow had stopped to get a drink. There were no signs of the crow decomposing nor were there any signs of any crawling bugs or flying insects.


Two weeks later the dead crow was still there AND AGAIN, there were no signs of decomposition, crawling bugs or flying insects



~PICTURES OF AGRAQUEST's "2nd" LOCATION, 1530 DREW AVENUE WHERE DAVID BELL WORKED~







Agraquest moved from the Kennedy Place location in 1999 to 1530 Drew Avenue. This new building was built to specifications for a proper biotechnology business which does research and development (BIO SAFETY REQUIREMENTS)




SIDE OF BUILDING



GREENHOUSE

FERMENTOR

"INSIDE" FERMENTOR


SHOWING MIXING PADDLES - USED FOR MIXING FERMENTATION BROTH



~ NOTE ~

It is very important at this point for the reader of this website to understand that Agraquest not only searches for “novel” microorganisms throughout the world, but they also test numerous strains of bacteria and fungus on fungal and bacterial diseases of plants, crops etc. as well as testing on numerous insects or pests. At any given time Agraquest scientists are testing and conducting experiments with different bacteria and fungus within the laboratory.

Agraquest labels the “strains” of bacteria and fungus they have discovered and or screened (or have received through collaborative efforts) with letters followed by a series of numbers. For example, the strain of the bacteria, Bacillus Subtilis AQ 153, which was discovered by George Vandemark from Agritope in Oregon (which Agraquest scientists are listed as "inventors") would be the One Hundredth and Fifty Third strain screened by Agraquest, if in fact Agraquest did the screening and identification of this microorganism. It is not really known who in fact "discovered" this strain. Agritope submitted this strain (ATCC 55614) to the American Type Culture Collection and it is listed as "found in soil". The reason it is "believed" this bacteria was screened at Agraquest is the two patents that relate to this microorganism, U. S. Patent #5,753,222 and U. S. Patent #6,004,774 are both showing Pam Marrone of Agraquest as "first name inventor". U. S. Patent 6,004,774 is a continuation of U. S. Patent 5, 753,222.

It is also believed that perhaps this strain was discovered in Mexico as the first patent (5, 753,22) shows George Vandemark as one of the inventors (along with Agraquest scientists; Marrone; Pamela Gail (Davis, CA), Heins; Sherry D. (Davis, CA), Manker; Denise C. (Davis, CA), Jimenez; Desmond R. (Woodland, CA) and 1 scientist from Agritope. When the patent application was filed with the United States Patent Office on November 18, 1996 Dr. Vandemark's address was listed as, "Irapuato, MX" [Mexico]. The continuation of this patent shows the same inventors only the address of Dr. Vandemark had changed from "Irapuato, MX" to Prosser, Washington. Both patents were issued to Agritope at two addresses; Beaverton, Oregon and then Portland, Oregon.

Additionally, reference is made to Dr Vandemark discovering the "Antibiotic-Producing Strain of Bacillus and Methods for Controlling Plant Disease". This publication also clearly states that Dr. Vandemark, cooperating scientists from Agritope and Agriquest [Agraquest} Inc. were awarded U.S. Patent #5,753,222 in 1998. ARS Home | USDA.gov website:

"The Washington State University Irrigated Agriculture Research and Extension Center (WSU-IAREC) was first established in 1919. The first cooperative work with the USDA was initiated in 1922. In 1941 the Prosser Chamber of Commerce purchased 5 acres on the WSU-IAREC field experiment site and donated it to the USDA. Later that land was swapped for 5 acres adjacent to the experiment station laboratory buildings which houses the USDA greenhouses and storage buildings."
"Dr. George Vandemark, Research Geneticist, alfalfa. In 1998, Dr.Vandemark, along with cooperating scientists from Agritope Inc. and Agriquest Inc., were awarded U. S. Patent #5,753,222 “Antibiotic-Producing Strain of Bacillus and Methods for Controlling Plant Disease” which describes the use of an isolate of B. subtilis, discovered by Dr. Vandemark, for controlling several different fungal diseases of plants.".

The question remains as to "what" the "other" 22,973 microorganisms were (and now are) in Agraquest's "collection" of microorganisms when they have said that out of 23,000 microorganisms they have "27" product candidates? Why is this not known to the employees, the public and the surrounding neighborhoods? It is also unknown what "chemical" were or are within the biotechnology company, Agraquest.
The strain of the bacteria, Bacillus Subtilis that was “discovered” by Agraquest in the peach orchard in Fresno, California that has become their famous “Serenade” product is QST 713 (originally QRD 713), meaning this is the Seven Hundred Thirteenth microorganism Agraquest “screened”. Another Agraquest bacteria, Bacillus pumilus strain, originally found in a garden in Micronesia (QST 2808) means that this strain of bacillus was the Two Thousandth Eight Hundred and Eighth microorganism that Agraquest screened and the fungus, Muscodor albus strain QST 20799 that was discovered in aHonduran rain forest was the Twenty Thousandth Seven Hundred and Ninety Ninth microorganism. It was last known that Agraquest said they had 23,000 microorganisms in their culture collection. What the vast majority of microorganisms that are in Agraquest’s culture collection is unknown. This information has not been released to the public, least of all the employees who work for them.

It would be pretty safe to say, based on the founding Vice President of Agraquest, Ralph Sibaldi's statement “Our goal is to isolate 20,000 microbes by August 1996. AQ already has agreements to obtain a comparable