Rio Grande poison plan postponed

By Eliott C. McLaughlin
CNN

(CNN) - Federal officials postponed poisoning a mile-long stretch of the Rio Grande's banks this week after residents complained that doing so would pose health and environmental risks on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection said it wants to eradicate the invasive Carrizo cane infesting many portions of the Rio Grande's banks between Texas and Mexico. The lanky cane provides cover for immigrants crossing the border illegally and poses a danger to Border Patrol agents trying to stop them, said Chuck Prichard, spokesman for CBP's Laredo sector.

"Someone can be in the cane and be 3 feet away from them, and you cannot see them," Prichard said during a Wednesday phone interview. "[A Border Patrol agent] could literally be surrounded and have no idea."

Applying herbicides on a 1.1-mile stretch of the U.S. side of the river was to be part of a test project, Prichard said, but the CBP decided to postpone the $2.1 million experiment to address community concerns.

Residents of two Hispanic communities near Laredo, Texas - Barrio de Colores and Barrio El Cuatro - filed a lawsuit late Tuesday asking a federal court to intervene. Prichard said Wednesday morning he was unaware of the lawsuit and it had played no role in CBP's decision.