Lawsuit Initiated to Protect Hundreds of Endangered Species From Pesticide Impacts

[Scott S]

Lets face it, industry as we know it is screwed. I am planning on driving down I-5 to the CA border and pissin over the line....



http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/n...1-28-2009.html
Lawsuit Initiated to Protect Hundreds of Endangered Species From Pesticide Impacts
San Francisco— The Center for Biological Diversity today filed notice of intent to sue the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for failing to adequately evaluate and regulate nearly 400 pesticides harmful to hundreds of endangered species throughout the nation, which also threaten human health. The EPA has violated the Endangered Species Act by failing to consult with wildlife regulatory agencies about the impacts of pesticides on hundreds of protected species that are threatened by pesticide use. The agency has also violated the Migratory Bird Treaty Act by registering pesticides that are known to kill and harm migratory birds.
“It’s time for the Environmental Protection Agency to finally reform pesticide use to protect both wildlife and people,” said Jeff Miller, a conservation advocate with the Center for Biological Diversity. “Many endangered species most affected by toxic pesticides are already struggling to cope with habitat loss and rapid climate changes. For too long this agency’s oversight has been abysmal, allowing the pesticide industry to unleash a virtual plague of toxic chemicals into our environment.”

More than a billion pounds of pesticides are used each year in the United States, and the Environmental Protection Agency has registered more than 18,000 different pesticides for use. Extensive scientific studies have shown that pesticide contamination is widespread and pervasive in groundwater, drinking water, and aquatic habitat for fish and wildlife throughout the country. Through pesticide drift and runoff, pesticides often travel far from the areas where they’re applied and into sensitive wildlife habitats. Some contaminated waterways are regularly subjected to toxic pulses of combinations of pesticides deadly to fish. Pesticides have played a major role in the collapse of many native fish populations and are a leading cause of the loss of native amphibians.

Today’s notice letter references 887 endangered and threatened species that may be hurt by pesticides Some examples include the Florida panther, coho salmon, California condor, Everglade snail kite, northern Aplomado falcon, mountain yellow-legged frog, California tiger salamander, arroyo toad, Indiana bat, and green sturgeon. Thousands of non-target animals such as mountain lions, bobcats, hawks, and owls are killed or harmed each year by poisoned baits approved by the EPA, as are endangered species such as the San Joaquin kit fox, Utah prairie dog, giant kangaroo rat, and black-footed ferret. Application of pesticides such as carbofuran to crops can result in as many as 17 bird kills for every five acres treated.

“Millions of pounds of toxic and poisonous chemicals, including known carcinogens and endocrine disruptors, find their way into our waterways each year, causing significant and unnecessary threats to endangered wildlife and to human health,” said Miller. “The Environmental Protection Agency needs to analyze the effects of pesticides across the board on hundreds of imperiled species.”

Numerous pesticides act as endocrine disruptors, chemicals that alter the structure or function of the body’s endocrine system, which uses hormones to regulate growth, metabolism, and tissue function. Endocrine disruptors interfere with natural hormone functions, damaging reproductive function and offspring, and cause developmental, neurological, and immune problems in wildlife and humans. Pesticides have caused sexual deformities such as intersex fish (with male and female reproductive parts) that cannot reproduce, and the herbicide atrazine <http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/news/press_releases/2009/atrazine-08-27-2009.html> chemically castrates male frogs at extremely low concentrations.