Background on Government Documentation of Pesticide Risks to Salmon

Background Concerning Government Documentation that Shows
Adverse Effects of Pesticides on Salmon

May 7, 2001

The legal filings include EPA and USGS documents showing current uses of 48 pesticides that are likely to harm fish or fish habitat. The following criteria were used to identify the pesticides that are of concern to listed salmon and steelhead runs.

Commonly used pesticides were identified using a consistent source of state-by-state use data that is available through published reports and accompanying databases. The list is limited to pesticides used in amounts greater than or equal to 100,000 pounds of active ingredient per year in Washington, Oregon, or California.
Leonard P. Gianessi, Pesticide Use in U.S. Crop Production: 1997 (National Center for Food and Agricultural Policy, Nov. 2000);
Leonard P. Gianessi, Pesticide Use in Oregon Crop Production, Pesticide Use in Washington Crop Production, Pesticide Use in California Crop Production, (National Center for Food and Agricultural Policy, Feb. 1995).

Frequently detected pesticides were identified by reviewing United States Geological Survey (USGS) reports prepared under the National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) program for the Willamette Basin in Oregon; the San Joaquin-Tulare and Sacramento River Basins in California; and the Puget Sound Basin in Washington, all of which are inhabited by salmon listed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act. The USGS reports provide data about how frequently each pesticide was detected in water samples. The list of frequently detected pesticides in Washington, Oregon, and California is limited to those found at a 20% or higher detection rate.

Aquatic life criteria standards are set at a level to protect aquatic life, and they are identified in the USGS reports for the limited number of pesticides for which these criteria have been set. Thirteen of the 48 pesticides of concern were found at or above an aquatic life criteria, representing potential harm to salmon and/or their habitat.

EPA’s own documents reveal hazards to salmon or salmon habitat. For 41 of those pesticides identified as commonly used or frequently detected, EPA has made findings that their use may harm fish or fish habitat. The EPA documents stating these findings include Preliminary Risk Assessments, Risk Assessments, and/or Reregistration Eligibility Decisions, and they are available at http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/reregistration/status.htm.

These documents assess the potential risk of each pesticide to fish, other aquatic organisms, and aquatic plants. They reveal that there is a known risk to fish or fish habitat from the use of 41 pesticides.

EPA cannot assess the hazards of many pesticides. Thirty-six of the pesticides identified as commonly used or frequently detected do not have publicly available reregistration status documents. The risks to salmon from many currently used pesticides are still unknown.

BASIS OF LEGAL ACTION

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), the agency charged with carrying out the Endangered Species Act for listed salmon, has indicated serious concern about the effects of pesticides on salmon. In issuing its 4(d) rule last summer, NMFS stated that "concentrations of pesticides may affect salmonid behavior and reproductive success. Current EPA label requirements were developed in the absence of information about some of these subtle but real impacts on aquatic species such as salmonids."

EPA currently makes extremely limited efforts to determine the effects of pesticides on fish, and even when serious detrimental effects are found, EPA rarely takes action.

Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act requires that federal agencies consult with the relevant agency (here, NMFS) to insure that any action they fund, authorize, or carry out does not harm endangered species. EPA has failed to initiate this consultation with NMFS to determine whether its actions related to pesticide regulation are harming threatened salmon. Section 7 also requires that agencies pro-actively conserve endangered species, and consult on this duty. EPA has also failed to initiate this consultation.

KEY ELEMENTS OF LAWSUIT

Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides, Washington Toxics Coalition, Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations, and Institute for Fisheries Resources, represented by Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund, filed suit to compel EPA to:

initiate a consultation with NMFS to evaluate the effects on salmon and steelhead of EPA’s regulations on pesticides
review its programs and consult with NMFS to determine how to use EPA pesticide and water quality authorities
to conserve salmon and steelhead
prioritize action on pesticides that are known to be toxic to fish and/or are likely to be found in fish habitat, and
take immediate protective actions, such as restrictions on pesticide use near water.

Background Information on Pesticides and Salmon

Pesticides have profound effects on Northwest salmon and may be a serious factor in their decline.

The US Geological Survey has found concentrations of pesticides in Pacific Northwest rivers and streams at levels that are associated with negative impacts on fish growth, development, behavior, and reproduction.
Some pesticides are lethal to salmon, and large fish kills have occurred.
Pesticides can impair swimming ability, cause abnormal sexual development, and cause skeletal deformities.
Pesticides can indirectly affect fish by changing the aquatic environment, by reducing the food supply, and by eliminating vegetative cover used by young salmon.
Pesticides can impair salmon’s ability to transition from freshwater to seawater.

(More information on pesticides & salmon available at http://www.pond.net/~fish1ifr/salpest.htm)

Pesticides that EPA documents identify as harmful to fish or fish habitat and/or that the USGS has detected in West Coast salmon streams at or above a recognized aquatic life criteria

Pesticide Name	Commonly Used^a	Frequently Detected^b	Detected at or above USGS recognized Aquatic Life Criteria^c
acephate	CA
alachlor	CA, WA
atrazine *		CA, OR, WA	OR
azinphos-methyl	CA, WA		CA, OR
bensulide	CA
bentazon		CA
bromoxynil	CA, WA
captan	CA, WA
carbaryl *	CA, WA	CA, OR, WA	CA, OR,WA
carbofuran *	CA	CA, OR	OR
chlorothalonil	CA, OR, WA
chlorpyrifos	CA, OR, WA	CA, OR	CA, OR, WA
2,4-D *	CA, OR, WA	CA, OR, WA	OR, WA
diazinon	CA	CA, OR, WA	CA, OR,WA
dicamba *	OR, WA	WA	OR
dichlobenil		OR, WA
1,3-dichloropropene	CA, OR, WA
dimethoate	CA
disulfoton	CA, WA
diuron *	CA, OR, WA	CA, OR	CA, OR
ethoprop	OR, WA	OR
febutatin-oxide	CA
fenamiphos	CA
iprodione	CA
malathion	CA, WA	CA, WA	CA, OR, WA
methamidophos	CA, WA
methidathion	CA
methomyl	CA
methyl parathion	CA, WA
metolachlor	CA, OR, WA	CA, WA, OR
metribuzin	WA	CA, OR	OR
naled	CA
norflurazon	CA, WA
oryzalin	CA, WA	CA
paraquat dichloride	CA, OR, WA
pebulate	CA
pendimethalin	CA, WA
phorate	CA. WA
phosmet	CA, WA
prometryn	CA
propargite	CA, OR, WA	CA
simazine *	CA, WA	CA, OR, WA	CA, WA
triclopyr		CA, OR, WA
trifluralin	CA, WA	CA, WA	CA
thiobencarb	CA	CA
thiodicarb	CA
terbacil		OR
tebuthiuron		CA, OR

* To date, the EPA has not published an assessment of the risk of using these pesticides in a preliminary risk assessment, a risk assessment, or a reregistration eligibility decision.
^aGianessi use estimate data (agricultural only) from National Center for Food and Agricultural Policy in amounts greater than or equal to100,000 pounds of active ingredient applied per year in each state. Pesticide Use in US Crop Production: 1997 National Summary Report, November 2000. Pesticide Use in California/Oregon/Washington Crop Production: 1993, February 1995.
^bUnited States Geological Survey National Water-Quality Assessment Program summary reports and supporting documents (Puget Sound, San Joaquin-Tulare, Sacramento, & Willamette).
^cAquatic Life Criteria are the water quality guidelines for protection of aquatic life (USGS Circular 1215, 2000).
Prepared by the Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides. 5/07/01

Commonly used and/or frequently detected pesticides in Oregon, Washington, or California that do NOT have an EPA assessment of risk

Pesticide Name	Commonly Used	Frequently Detected
2,4-D	X	X
anilazine	X
benomyl	X
cacodylic acid	X
carbaryl	X	X
carbofuran	X	X
chloropicrin	X
copper	X
DCPA	X
dicamba	X	X
dichlorprop		X
diuron	X	X
endosulfan	X
formetanate HCL	X
lindane		X
mancozeb	X
maneb	X
MCPA	X	X
MCPP		X
metam sodium	X
methyl bromide	X
metiram	X
molinate	X	X
napropramide	X	X
oxyfluorfen	X
pentachlorophenol		X
permethrin	X
prometon		X
propanil	X
propiconazole	X
simazine	X	X
sodium chlorate	X
sulfuric acid	X
thiabendazole	X
thiram	X
ziram	X

Commonly Used means an amount equal to or greater than 100,000 pounds of pesticide active ingredient is used in each state, according to use estimate data compiled by Gianessi.
Frequently Detected means the USGS found the pesticide in water samples collected in Puget Sound, San Joaquin-Tulare, Sacramento, or Willamette River Basins at a rate of 20 percent or greater.
Prepared by Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides May 7, 2001