{"id":393,"date":"2008-07-15T01:24:19","date_gmt":"2008-07-15T05:24:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/?p=393"},"modified":"2008-07-15T01:24:19","modified_gmt":"2008-07-15T05:24:19","slug":"epa-fumigant-rules-leave-communities-and-workers-at-risk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2008\/07\/epa-fumigant-rules-leave-communities-and-workers-at-risk\/","title":{"rendered":"EPA Fumigant Rules Leave Communities and Workers At Risk"},"content":{"rendered":"

(Beyond Pesticides<\/em>, July 15, 2008) After three years of deliberation, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed new rules<\/a> for five highly toxic fumigant pesticides on July 10, 2008. Environmental health, community and farmworker groups say the rules, while substantially better than the past, still fall short of protecting people, workers and the environment. The rules will be published in the Federal Register<\/em> on July 17, 2008.<\/font>The fumigant review, mandated by the 1996 Food Quality Protection Act<\/em>, was conducted as a combined evaluation of five commonly used fumigants, called the “Fumigant Cluster Assessment.” The five fumigants included in the assessment are methyl bromide, metam sodium, metam potassium, dazomet, and chloropicrin. Methyl bromide was slated for phaseout by January 2005 under the Montreal Protocol<\/em> because it is a potent ozone depletor, but the Bush Administration has sought annual “critical use exemptions,” keeping it on the market.<\/p>\n

<\/font><\/font> Fumigants, which are among the most toxic chemicals used in agriculture, are gases or liquids that are injected or dripped into the soil to sterilize a field before planting. Even with plastic tarps on the soil, fumigants escape from the soil and drift through the air into schools, homes, parks and playgrounds. Strawberries, tomatoes, peppers, carrots and potatoes are some of the major crops for which fumigant use is high.<\/font>\u201cSo many people, including my family and friends, have been poisoned by these pesticides. I was hoping EPA would do more to protect farmworkers and rural communities,\u201d says Teresa DeAnda, a resident of Earlimart, CA from Californians for Pesticide Reform.<\/p>\n

Rural communities, farmworkers and environmentalists had hoped that EPA would use this opportunity to help move American agriculture to safe, secure and sustainable pest management technologies, and completely phase out the use of these outdated pesticides. “Fumigants such as methyl bromide should not be used under any circumstances,” says Shelley Davis deputy director of Farmworker Justice and Beyond Pesticides board member. “This product has been linked to high risk of birth defects and nervous system damage.”<\/p>\n

While EPA did not ban the use of any of the fumigants reviewed, the most significant mitigation measure is the introduction of buffer zones, meaning farmers must leave from 25 feet to half a mile between the fumigated field and homes, schools, and other places where people might be. The buffer zones are an improvement over current use patterns that — except for Telone, another fumigant — require no buffer zones to protect people. However, the sizes of EPA\u2019s buffers are “scenario based” and, under certain conditions, can be waived. Thus the protection of EPA’s new buffer zones may be too little to prevent acute poisonings. In September 2007, 121 workers in Nevada more than \u00bc mile from a fumigation site were rushed to the hospital because of fumigant drift. Lesser drift incidents often go unnoticed because people don’t know why they are feeling sick.<\/p>\n

Other mitigation measures include:
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