The New Year has started with a not insignificant victory for environmental groups and anyone concerned about public health. On January 7^th, an appeals court in Cincinnati, Ohio, ruled that the Bush administration could no longer exempt pesticides from the federal permit requirements for pollutants. This should mean that pesticides can no longer be indiscriminately dumped in the nation’s water supplies to the detriment of the ecosystem, and also fish, wildlife and human health.

The fact that pesticides have, until now, been exempt from the usual rules applying to water pollutants has been a subject of controversy. Some environmental groups would also argue that it is yet another example of how the EPA’s loyalty under the current government has been to the chemical or energy industry rather than the environment. However, with the entrance of the new government the mood has become more positive and hopes run high.

“We look forward to working with the new EPA to protect the environment rather than the chemical industry,” said Charlie Tebbutt, Western Environmental Law Center attorney and lead counsel for the environmental organizations and organic farms that challenged the rule.

Pesticides are carried into water supply in rainwater runoff from farm fields, suburban lawns, or roadside embankments. On occasion they are even sprayed into streams and rivers as part of the pest-control effort. However, they can have a highly damaging effect on the ecosystem and plant and animal life. Even “safe levels” of pesticides have resulted in a declining amphibian population. Atrazine, the second most commonly used pesticide in the U.S, has been linked to incidents of hermaphroditism observed in freshwater fish. Two years ago, EPA-funded scientists at the University of Colorado studied the fish in Boulder Creek and found of the 123 trout and other fish they netted, 101 were female, 12 were male and 10 were intersex. Atrazine was banned in the European Union (EU) in 2004 because of its persistent groundwater contamination, but in the U.S. 76 million pounds of it are applied each year.

Pesticides, via water, can also work themselves into the food chain, ultimately being consumed by both animals and humans. Ingested in sufficient quantities, they have been found to cause damage to reproductive systems, the nervous system, the liver, and DNA. They have also been thought to have a play a part in a variety of cancers.

The Clean Water Act is the act that protects the water supply and regulates the discharge of pollutants into the water supply. But, in Nov. 27, 2007 a rule by the Bush administration excluded pesticides from the Clean Water Act’s permitting requirements. This meant that farmers could indiscriminately spray pesticides without concern as to pesticide run-off into the water supply.

The 2007 ruling brought strong opposition from environmentalists who have challenged since it since came into effect. Groups, which have opposed the rule, include the National Center for Conservation Science and Policy, Oregon Wild, Californians for Alternatives to Toxics, Waterkeeper Alliance, Environment Maine, and Toxics Action Center. These groups upheld that the exemption was harmful for fish, aquatic life and humans and applauded the judges’ decision.

“This decision will help ensure, in communities across the country, that aquatic pests are addressed in ways that protect both water quality and the public health,” said Chuck Caldart of the National Environmental Law Center, one of the attorneys representing the plaintiffs.

Pesticides and the Rocky Mountain States

While the environmental groups challenging the law such were mainly from California and Oregon the Rocky Mountain States have their own pesticide issues.

A research study in Beyond Pesticides, 2008, by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) found pesticides in the surface waters in the Cache La Poudre River in Colorado. This river is used as a source for public water systems and the study found that low levels of the chemicals remained in the public water supplies even after being treated. Among the most commonly found pollutant was Atrazine. Although the measured concentration of the chemicals was low, less than 0.1 part per billion some scientists point to health effects associated to low level exposures well below the regulatory standards set by the government. For more details: http://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2008/5208

Another USGS study in 2006 sampled pesticides in the surface water in the Bighorn and North Platte River Basins in Wyoming. This study also found detectable concentrations of pesticides (18 in total) in both river basins. The most commonly detected pesticide in the Bighorn River Basin was also Atrazine. For more details: http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2007/3017/pdf/fs2007-3017.pdf

An earlier study by the USGS performed in both Wyoming and Montana found detectable levels of pesticides in all the sampling areas. For more details: http://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2008/5012/pdf/sir2008-5012web.pdf

References

http://www.courthousenews.com/2009/01/08/Court_Cancels_EPA_Pesticide_Exemption.htm

http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/jan2009/2009-01-07-093.asp