Citizen's sue the California Department of Pesticide Regulation
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Date:
Thu, 5 Dec 2002
From:
Stephen Tvedten <steve@getipm.com>
Organization: Get Set Inc. (www.getipm.com)
To: Paul Helliker <phelliker@cdpr.ca.gov>
Director, State of California, Department of Pesticide
Regulation
cc: Christine Whitman whitman.christine@epa.gov
(Sacramento CA) Environmentalists filed suit today against the Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR), alleging that the state agency failed to reevaluate the registration of pesticides that are blown by air from the Central Valley to the Sierra Nevada. Growing evidence suggests that this pesticide contamination has played a major role in the drastic population declines of four Sierra amphibian species over the last 25 years.
"The Department of Pesticide Regulation has known since 1993 that drift of insecticides applied to agricultural crops in the Central Valley has contaminated pristine areas of the Sierra Nevada, yet has never investigated the extent of this pollution," said Patty Clary, Executive Director of Californians for Alternatives to Toxics (CATs), which filed the lawsuit. "Nor has DPR responded when studies showed the extreme sensitivity of Sierran frogs to these chemicals even while populations of these frogs are crashing."
Populations of the red-legged frog, foothill yellow-legged frog, mountain yellow-legged frog and Yosemite toad have each declined precipitously in recent decades, often disappearing without any explanation from high elevation, seemingly pristine habitats such as Lake Tahoe or Yosemite National Park. Recent studies conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey show evidence that frogs are being exposed to organophosphate pesticides, including chlorpyrifos, malathion and diazinon, in their Sierra habitats.
"The purpose of this lawsuit is to force DPR to reevaluate these pesticide registrations in light of the contamination that has been detected and the decline of amphibian populations in the Sierra." said Michael Graf, the attorney representing CATs. "Given the new study showing that amphibian populations are more likely to be in decline if their habitat is downwind of land devoted to agriculture and pesticide use, it is simply irresponsible for DPR to continue to bury its head in the sand on this issue."
California law requires DPR to reevaluate pesticide registrations when it can be shown that their continuing use is likely to cause a significant environmental impact. CATs' lawsuit is based on evidence that the pesticides detected in amphibian habitat are likely to disrupt the endocrine system, which may have a number of sub-lethal impacts on amphibians species. Among these are hormonally-caused alteration of normal sexual development or interference with amphibian immune systems, which renders them more suscepible to disease. Of the four Sierra amphibian species currently in decline, the red-legged frog is already listed as threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act, while petitions to list the other three species have either already been submitted or are being prepared. Californians for Alternatives to Toxics is a public interest organization based in Eureka, California. See www.alternatives2toxics.org for more information.
Californians for Alternatives to Toxics (CATs)
315 P Street
Eureka, CA 95501
phone 707-445-5100
fax 707-445-5151
www.alternatives2toxics.org
cats@alternatives2toxics.org
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