[va-richmond-general] "Disturbing news" - Granular Carbofuran in Louisiana
- From: Larry R Lynch <birder6@xxxxxxxx>
- To: VA-Richmond-General@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 1 Jul 2002 07:49:45 -0400
If you are so inclined, please send a note to the EPA "TODAY"!
--------- Forwarded message ----------
EPA TO ALLOW LOUISIANA TO USE BIRD KILLING PESTICIDE
Public Has Only 5 Days to Help Stop This From Happening!
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has granted an emergency
request by Louisiana rice growers to combat rice weevils by using 1,500
pounds of granular carbofuran - one of the world's most potent
bird-killing pesticides -- on 10,000 acres of rice fields. An
additional 4,500 pounds of the deadly pesticide may be produced to meet
the rice growers' demands. Audubon and our partners in conservation are
working to see that they are stopped from rolling back bird protections
to produce more of this poison and apply it to rice fields as a
bird-killing trap.
EPA initially intended to grant the rice growers an "emergency use"
application, without seeking public comment or alerting conservation
groups. However, after pressure from Audubon and other groups, EPA has
agreed to allow only enough pesticide to cover 2,500 acres immediately,
and have opened a five-day public comment period, beginning Thursday,
June 27th, before they decide whether to authorize carbofuran use, and
give the green light for more bird-poison production, to cover the
remaining 7,500 acres.
Laboratory data verify that carbofuran is among the most highly toxic
pesticides to birds. One tiny granule can kill a songbird, and more than
fifty species, including Bald and Golden Eagle, Eastern Bluebird, Great
Horned Owl, Red-tailed Hawk, Northern Pintail, and Blue-winged Teal, have
been documented as having died from carbofuran poisoning. EPA estimated
that prior to cancellation of the granular formulation, up to two
million birds were killed each year by carbofuran. No other substance
listed under the EPA's Ecological Incident Investigation System has
killed more birds. In October 1999, for example, nearly 27,000 migratory
birds, including red-winged blackbirds and horned larks, were killed on a
13-acre plot when a farmer illegally applied carbofuran to wheat seed and
spread it between rows of wheat crop intentionally as bait for the birds.
However, it does not require malice to kill birds with one of the world's
most dangerous bird-killing poisons. Scientists at the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service (FWS) stated that "there are no known conditions under
which carbofuran can be used without killing migratory birds. Many of
these die-off incidents followed applications of carbofuran that were
made with extraordinary care.". Scientists from around the country
concur. In southwest Louisiana, where the rice farmers want to apply
the poison, hundreds of species of birds could be at risk, including the
threatened bald eagle. The proposed carbofuran poisoning could have a
particularly devastating impact on bird species that are often found in
large numbers in rice fields, such as wading birds and neotropical
migrant shorebirds. A single exposure to the deadly pesticide of a large
group of Buff-breasted Sandpipers or Short-billed Dowitchers, for
example, could wipe out a globally significant number of their remaining
population. Both species are listed on Audubon's WatchList of birds that
could be headed for extinction, and would be migrating through southwest
Louisiana at the time the pesticides would be applied.
Four pesticides are registered for use against the rice water weevil that
are not nearly the potent bird-killer that carbofuran has proven to be.
According to Louisiana State University, these pesticides work as well or
better than carbofuran and for equal or lesser cost.
That's why Audubon and our partner organizations are committed to
stopping any further use of the bird-killer carbofuran - but we can't do
it alone. We need your help - and we need it now, as the EPA will make
their decision in less than five days!
Please send a message to the EPA immediately and urge them to deny any
further use of carbofuran! Click onto this link to send your message
right now - and please encourage your family and friends to do so as
well! The clock is ticking...and thousands of birds are at stake!
http://www.capitolconnect.com/audubon/contact/default.asp?subject=56
<< forwarded by Larry Lynch -- in support of birds everywhere!>>
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