RSS 2.0 FeedThursday, January 26, 2012, Wantagh Seaford Citizen
Ban pesticides in LI groundwater?
A myriad of pesticides in our drinking water are remnants of a toxic legacy that started decades ago.
New information just issued by the state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) points to a “chemical cocktail” in our water supply that could prove to adversely affect the health and well being of residents. The draft document called the Long Island Pesticide Use Management Plan (LIPUMP) being developed by the DEC to protect citizens, documents 123 pesticides in the water including the top three offenders – atrazine, metalaxyl and lmidacloprid.
Atrazine, a herbicide, was banned for use in the European Union since 2004 and has been identified as an endocrine disrupter. Metalaxyl, a fungicide, is linked to kidney and liver damage and lmidacloprid, used on lawns and ornamental plantings, is toxic to fish and crustaceans.
In response to this report, environmental groups are calling for a zero-tolerance policy for pesticides in our ground water. Leading the charge is Adrienne Esposito, director of the environmental advocacy group Citizens Campaign for the Environment (CCE).
“The myriad of pesticides in our drinking water are remnants of a toxic legacy that started decades ago. Long Island’s groundwater will continue to be contaminated for years to come unless the DEC steps up and adopts a zero-tolerance plan for pesticides. We only have one aquifer; that means only one chance to get this right.”
“A zero-tolerance policy will offer the strongest protection for Long Island’s drinking water and stop the continuance of pesticide contamination to the aquifer system,” explained Ms. Esposito at a press conference last week.
Still in draft form, the DEC has been working on this plan since 1998 and have now made the plan available to the public for comment.
More than 20 environmental groups including Freeport’s Operation SPLASH, have endorsed the zero-tolerance policy for pesticides in groundwater. Other environmental groups include NYPIRG, Vision Long Island, Long Island Pine Barrens Society, Sierra Club Long Island Group, Sustainability Institute at Molloy College, and the Long Island Drinking Water Coalition, among others.
“People have been lulled into a false sense of security about these chemicals. They figure if they are legal it’s okay but we don’t know the long-term effects; people end up getting sick,” said Rob Weltner, president of Operation SPLASH. “We need to be our own watchdog and tell the government what we want.”
The Environmental Protection Agency has not established drinking water standards for all the pesticides found in our water. According to CCE, of the hundreds of pesticide active ingredients it registers, the EPA has established maximum contaminant levels (MCLs) for only 24 pesticides.
“Pesticides in water usually occur in combinations of several compounds rather than individually. More than 50 percent of all stream samples by the United States Geological Survey contain five or more pesticides, and nearly 25 percent of all groundwater samples contain two or more pesticides,” according to information provided by CCE.
Additionally, it is still unknown how chemicals interact with each other or with other contaminants, such as nitrates, commonly found in Long Island’s aquifer.
“Look at what happens with DDT,” said Mr. Weltner. “After all these years, we are still finding DDD in the bottom of the Bays.” Mr. Weltner explained that when “DDT breaks down it becomes DDD.”
DDD is dichorodiphenyldichloroethane, a breakdown product of DDT. It has a half-life of 150 years in the aquatic environment, according to the Center for Environmental Medicine.
Discharge guidelines for pesticides in the water are presently at 50 parts per billion. But the water is under assault from other contaminants as well, including volatile organic compounds (VOCs), MTBE and pharmaceuticals. “Our water is under attack. How long will this be sustainable?” asked the CEE’s Ms. Esposito.
The three most egregious offenders – atrazine, lmidacloprid and metalaxyl – need to be banned immediately, said coalition members. In August of 2009 atrazine was featured in the New York Times as a potential cause of birth defects, low birth weights and menstrual problems when consumed at concentrations below federal standards. A 2010 study by the USGS observed substantial adverse reproductive effects on fish, said the CCE.
Lmidacloprid, which has been in use since 1995 and was first detected in April of 2000, quickly leaches into the soil and has been found in concentrations out east as high as 407 parts per billion. It is toxic to fish and crustaceans.
Metalaxyl also readily leaches in sandy soil and is linked to kidney and liver damage.
“The water is just below our feet,” said SPLASH’s Mr. Weltner. “It’s not just the aquifer we have to worry about; it’s all our ground water. In Freeport you can go down two or three feet and hit water.”
