Healthy soil and sustainable growing

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EPA proposes stricter rules on soil fumigant pesticides
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-fumigant11-2008jul11,0,3770220.story
The changes, which involve buffer zones, monitoring and emergency training, 
come after nearly four years of study on a group of highly toxic pesticides.
By Tami Abdollah, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
July 11, 2008

The Environmental Protection Agency proposed tighter restrictions Thursday on 
highly toxic soil fumigant pesticides used in growing strawberries, tomatoes 
and other crops.

Pesticide critics called the proposals "substantial improvements" but said 
they wouldn't fully protect farmworkers and the public.

The changes -- applying to chloropicrin, dazomet, metam sodium/potassium, 
methyl isothiocyanate and methyl bromide -- call for buffer zones, air 
quality monitoring, fumigation management plans, and training for emergency 
responders and applicators.

The proposals, which would take effect in 2010, come after nearly four years 
of EPA reassessment of the fumigants, which are injected into soil to kill 
insects, weeds and diseases. The pesticides have been shown to give off toxic 
gases that farmworkers can inhale and that can waft into neighborhoods, and 
they have been linked to health problems such as respiratory difficulties.

The EPA proposals are "going to make it more difficult to use fumigants, and 
some of the other techniques are going to look more attractive," Susan Kegley 
of the Pesticide Action Network North America said.

The proposals are subject to a 60-day comment period. Fumigant makers would 
be largely responsible for carrying out the new rules. Enforcement would be 
coordinated with state agencies.

Buffer zones around fields would range from 25 feet to half a mile deep. Near 
schools, nursing homes and other sensitive locations, they would be at least 
a quarter-mile deep. Signs would be posted to identify the buffer zones.

Kegley said 25 feet was not enough to protect people.

California already requires buffer zones around fields where methyl bromide 
is used. The fumigant is being phased out because it damages the ozone layer. 
The EPA proposals would require that alternatives to methyl bromide be used 
on crops such as asparagus, broccoli, cauliflower and lettuce, for which the 
use of the specific chemical is not critical.

Many of the new restrictions mirror ones already in place in California. 
Officials at the California Department of Pesticide Regulation said they were 
already revamping their rules.

"Whatever we do will at least be equivalent to EPA, if not provide a greater 
margin of safety for the workers and the public," said Glenn Brank, a 
spokesman for that agency.