Environmental Group Sues EPA Over Bay Area Pesticides

The Center for Biological Diversity announced today that it is suing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for allowing pesticides in the habitats of endangered species without adequately assessing whether those chemicals pose a risk to those creatures.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, San Francisco Division, says the EPA failed to consult with the Fish and Wildlife Service as required by law before registering and approving for use 46 pesticides in the San Francisco Bay Area. The area is home to 11 endangered species: the delta smelt, the tidewater goby, the California clapper rail, the salt marsh harvest mouse, the California tiger salamander, the San Francisco garter snake, the California freshwater shrimp, the San Joaquin kit fox, the Alameda whipsnake, the valley elderberry longhorn beetle and the bay checkerspot butterfly.

The center says about 8.5 million pounds of pesticides are applied in the Bay Area every year, not including home and commercial pesticides, which aren't reported to the state.

"The registrations of contaminants known to be deadly to endangered species and harmful to human health, such as atrazine, should be canceled," said Jeff Miller, conservation advocate with the center. "Given the proximity of agricultural pesticide spraying to some Bay Area residential areas, surveys that have detected accumulation of pesticides in local creeks and San Francisco Bay, and what we know about movement of pesticides through drift and runoff, we should be wondering if we are next when we see endangered species poisoned by these chemicals."

The center's lawsuit seeks to restrict pesticide use in Bay Area habitats of endangered species until the EPA and the Fish and Wildlife Service fully assess how those chemicals might affect those animals and their environments. It says its goal is to eventually achieve some permanent restrictions on pesticides deemed harmful.

The center won similar temporary restrictions last October in a settlement with the EPA and the pesticide industry over the use of chemicals in areas occupied by the California red-legged frog. The settlement prohibits the use of 66 pesticides in those areas until the EPA completes a consultation with the Fish and Wildlife Service.

Center for Biological Diversity, "Environmental Protection Agency Sued Over Pesticide Use Harmful to 11 Bay Area Endangered Species." URL: (http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/swcbd/press/bay-area-pesticides-05-30-2007.html)

According to the center, current pesticide use in the Bay Area might have contributed to the recent collapse of bay and delta fish populations. Many local bodies of water currently fail water-quality standards because of high concentrations of pesticides like chlorpyrifos and diazinon, both of which are "extremely toxic," the center stated.