WEST COAST Pesticide ban to protect salmon
The banned pesticides are used for forests and suburban lawns.
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- The federal government must protect salmon from 54 common pesticides while it develops permanent environmental regulations, a judge ruled, starting a process that environmentalists say could take several years.
Those regulations could eventually ban or severely restrict the use of specific chemicals -- everything from agricultural chemicals to common lawn fertilizer -- in salmon-bearing watersheds.
In the meantime, U.S. District Judge John Coughenour in Seattle issued an order Thursday requiring the Environmental Protection Agency to set up temporary buffer zones along salmon-bearing streams, stretching from Puget Sound in Washington state to central California.
The zones would be in effect until the regulations are formulated.
The EPA was evaluating the order, said spokesman Mark McIntyre, who is based in Seattle. "We can't really react in a way that might jeopardize our case or not be accurate," he said.
Praise for regulation
Coughenour's order follows up a decision he handed down last year in favor of environmental, agricultural and fishing groups that sued the EPA over its pesticide regulations.
Two plaintiffs in that lawsuit hailed the order as a major victory.
"The salmon industry was a $1.25 billion industry in the Northwest and now it's shrunk to a ghost of that because of salmon declines," said Glen Spain of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations. "The region is spending tens -- if not hundreds -- of millions of dollars to help save these salmon and it doesn't make any sense to continue poisoning them in the meantime."
In their lawsuit, the groups alleged that the agency hadn't evaluated the threat to 26 threatened and endangered salmon species posed by 54 pesticides used on everything from forests to suburban lawns.
Limiting chemical use
As a result of the 2002 court decision, the EPA must consult with the National Marine Fisheries Service to determine permanent regulations for those pesticides.
The regulations could eventually include prohibitions or severe restrictions on specific chemicals as well as bans on aerial spraying, spraying in salmon-bearing watersheds or seasonal bans, said Patti Goldman, managing attorney for Earthjustice, also a plaintiff in the case.
"There's so few restrictions on agricultural activities to protect salmon, and it takes so long to get meaningful restrictions on pesticide use," Goldman said about Thursday's order.
The plaintiffs had suggested a 20-yard buffer for ground applications and a 100-yard buffer for aerial applications. They also proposed stricter conditions for suburban pesticide use, such as banning the over-the-counter sale of the listed chemicals and only allowing application by certified professionals.
The judge did not comment on those recommendations, Goldman said.
The government will hold a public hearing Aug. 14 to solicit suggestions on the size of the temporary buffers. No date has been set for when the zones will be established.