The following was related to me by an acquaintance in Northeast Louisiana quite recently:  Imagine arriving home at night and being greeted by the choking fumes of a mystery chemical agent.  Over the next few days, the source of the fumes is revealed:  Large swaths of the grass and other plants in this person’s yard begin to die.  Someone had sprayed a large amount of herbicide on this residential property without any prior warning.  That someone was Entergy, spraying, ostensibly, to keep vegetation from growing and threatening power lines.

Perhaps such spraying doesn’t sound unreasonable to some, but in this case there were no vines nor other plants that were even remotely jeopardizing the power lines.  It was a totally irresponsible action on Entergy’s part, not only because it wasted their workers’ time, energy, and resources, but because it exposed people, animals, plants, insects, etc., to a copious and unnecessary amount of toxic chemicals.

After learning of this situation, we did a little digging.  Others have complained about Entergy doing the same thing in their yards.  A report from Little Rock, Arkansas, from 2020 is nearly identical to what happened to the property owner in NE Louisiana in 2025:

‘Concern is sprouting in Little Rock’s Oak Forest community where neighbors say Entergy crews over-sprayed herbicide killing hundreds of trees and plants.

‘Neighbors brought their concern to the Arkansas Department of Agriculture’s Plant Board, which is now investigating.

‘State and local laws allow utility crews to spray herbicide along power lines to prevent trees and plants from growing into the equipment.  Utilities aren’t required to tell anyone in the area unless crews have to go on someone’s property.

‘Entergy says in this case the work was done in alleys so neighbors were not notified.

‘“All this spray was around me and I didn’t know,” said Gary Iverson, who lives in Oak Forrest.

‘Iverson says he never knew the herbicide was going to be sprayed and he believes it put his safety on the line.

‘“There’s no excuse for it,” Iverson said. “They come through here in two minutes and kill everything that takes years to grow.”

‘Entergy contractors sprayed the herbicide at the end of July, and within a few days, most alleys in the neighborhood were full of dead trees and brush.

‘Iverson says his backyard was in the path and his dogs were outside and at risk because he never got a warning.

‘“They were barking at the fence,” Iverson said. “At the time they were down here barking they were down here spraying. My dogs, they were covered in the spray and they had a waxy film on them.”

‘Iverson calls what happened in his neighborhood overkill.

‘“The power line is 30 feet up on the other side of the alley,” he said.

‘He pointed out multiple spots he says the herbicide reached that are too close for comfort.

‘“Right here my neighbor has a swimming pool where his kids come out to play. It’s right next to the back fence where all the trees have been sprayed,” he added’ (Susan El Khoury, ‘FOX16 Investigates: Community says Entergy crews over-sprayed herbicide, killing hundreds of trees and plants,’ fox16.com).

Mr Iverson was right to be concerned about the health of people and animals.  A fellow in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, reported in 2022 that one of his dogs died after Entergy sprayed their toxic brew on his property.

Entergy tries to green-wash their herbicide-spraying program, claiming with a straight face that it is actually better for the environment than mowing:

‘Through our low-volume, selective herbicide application program, we can responsibly target and clear invasive and tall-growing vegetation with precision. In turn, we mitigate disruption to native species and foster more hospitable habitats for local foliage and wildlife’ (Kaelen Delaune, ‘Entergy’s vegetation management program increases power reliability, improves wildlife habitats,’ entergy.com).

We’re not out to play Gotcha! with a corporation that we appreciate for providing Louisiana and other Southern States with electricity, but we have to call attention to this kind of egregious lying when we see it.  Spraying poisonous chemicals into the environment doesn’t ‘mitigate disruption to native species’ nor does it ‘foster more hospitable habitats for local foliage and wildlife.’  Far from it.

One mix that Entergy has been reported to use contains the following:

‘UPLAND MIX

Per 100 gallons of water

• • Roundup Pro: 4%
  • Arsenal AC: 0.50%
  • Milestone: 5 OZ
  • Sunrise/Surfactant: 0.50%
  • Escort: 2 OZ’ (Marlisa Goldsmith, ‘Is the herbicide used by Entergy contractors safe?,’ thv11.com)

We won’t analyze all of these for the sake of time, but Arsenal, made by BASF, causes the following:

‘This study assessed thyroidal activities of Arsenal formulation (Imazapyr) at environmentally relevant concentrations of 0.5, 2.0 and 3.5 mg/L following a Xenopus metamorphosis assay (XEMA). The result shows that the Arsenal formulation significantly delayed the tadpole development, reduced the hind-limb length (HLL) and increased the whole-body mass (WBM) at a concentration of 3.5 mg/L relative to the control exposure.  . . .  Consequently, the Arsenal formulation is thyroid-active at environmentally relevant concentrations and poses a threat to both human and wildlife, especially metamorphic organisms’ (‘Amphibians/Reptiles,’ beyondpesticides.org).

However, Roundup (whose main ingredient is glyphosate) is the worst offender of the bunch.  This is Monsanto’s superstar, often paired with crops that have been genetically modified to be resistant to it.  Thousands of gallons of this stuff have been sprayed on farms and crops and yards and parks all over the United States.  And what have we got for it?  An explosion of cancer cases and other chronic diseases.

Now that Monsanto (which is now owned by Bayer) is facing the lawsuit Armageddon that it rightly deserves for knowingly selling a dangerous product to the public, it is trying to strong-arm State legislatures and the federal legislature to give it immunity from lawsuits involving claims related to Roundup/glyphosate.  This is the same kind of immunity that Big Pharma got from the federal government for its deadly covid shots.  If we learned anything from covid, it is that such far-reaching immunity shields are a terrible idea.  Most States are resisting so far (thanks in no small part to the Freedom Caucuses in their legislatures), but pressure from giant corporations is often more influential than the concerns of individual voters/constituents.

And that pressure includes more than threats of withholding campaign contributions.  Monsanto has its own global intelligence operation that has targeted and smeared those who have written negative reports about the company and its products.  We have little doubt that mafia-type threats are being made to legislators, at both the State and federal levels, who refuse to grant it the legal immunity it desires.

This is supposed to be the age in which we Make America Healthy Again, yet the actions of corporations like Entergy and Bayer/Monsanto show how difficult that process will be, if it is even able to begin in any meaningful way.  Farm State legislators, public service commissioners, environmental department staff, and others in related roles could make a tremendous contribution by investigating the harmful practices of this corporate duo and meting out whatever justice is due.