Pesticide News Briefs

Superfund Superbroke
A trust fund made up of special taxes collected from oil and chemical industries to support the EPA’s Superfund program is about to run out, according to a study by the General Accounting Office. However, EPA continues to add sites to the National Priorities List (NPL), and Superfund spending has remained consistent, between 1.3 and 1.7 billion dollars a year.
In 1995, the trust fund added 2 billion dollars to Superfund, but the taxes expired that same year when Congress failed to reauthorize the taxes. The trust fund is expected to run out in October.
Source: Washington Post

Pesticides Rain Down on CA
A new study measuring pesticide levels in winter storm runoff reveals a threat to the San Joaquin Valley’s aquatic life, according to a US Geological Survey study. Neurotoxins diazinon and chlorpyrifos were measured in rain and storm water during January and February of 2001.
Of the five waterways tested, the study found the highest concentration of diazinon in the San Joaquin River. The issue is not only runoff: 68% of the chemicals came from the rain water itself, endemic because of the chemicals’ ability to remain in the air for weeks or even months after application.
Source: California News

Atmospheric Decline in Methyl Bromide
After the 1987 Montreal Protocol treaty restricted the use of methyl bromide, a pesticide used to sterilize soils, grain silos and shipments of perishable goods, a marked decrease has been reported by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The ozone-destroying bromine is down 13% since 1998, according to a study published in the Journal of Geophysical Research and Letters.
However, the Bush Administration is seeking exemptions to the ban, which should take effect in industrialized countries beginning in 2005.
The study projects that methyl bromide levels will continue to decline dramatically as long as restrictions are kept in place.
Source: New York Times

EPA sued over Children’s Health
On September 15, 2003, the Attorneys General of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Massachusetts filed a suit against the EPA for neglect in implementing the Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA).
The 1996 FQPA, which was designed to protect children from unnecessary exposures certain toxins as residues in food, was signed into law with unanimous support from Congress. The law states that the levels of pesticide residue on children’s food must be ten times lower than that of adults.
No official response to the suit has been released by EPA.
Source: NY Times.

-edited by Kate Pattison