Farmworkers Self-Help, Inc.

The Pesticide Review Council met at the end of September and there were four agenda items of interest to farmworker concerns. Jeannie Economos gave us this report:

Soil Fumigant Reviews: There was much discussion and opposition to the Risk Mitigation Options proposed by EPA from the growers and agricultural interests. Growers feel that the restrictions proposed will be too difficult to follow and could result in much acreage, due to mandated buffer zones, taken out of production. Cabbage and strawberries are expected to be significantly impacted. The Florida Farm Bureau is pro-actively opposing these measures, during this final comment period. In fact, Florida is taking the lead in organizing other states to collaborate in taking a coordinated response to oppose these restrictions. (There has, apparently, been very little feedback to EPA from other states.) In addition, research dollars for alternatives are very limited, especially in this declining economy, and the FDACS budget is unlikely to be increased to fill the need for the stricter enforcement measures that will be needed. FDACS staff reviewed the new measures for the participants in the meeting.
EPA released their mitigation measures (a summary is available for anyone interested) for 5 soil fumigants after an extensive review process, that included input from many constituencies, including farmworkers and farmworker groups, which we participated actively in in Florida. The results of the EPA’s review of the 5 fumigant pesticides was that they released very stringent measures, and adopted many of the suggestions that came from our collective groups nationwide that opposed these toxic chemicals. Though EPA has said that these new measures are final, they have still opened up a comment period to get feedback from affected stakeholders.

Worker Protection Compliance Activities: A power point presentation of the WPS enforcement numbers for the period 7/1/2007 – 6/30/2008 listed the statistics of enforcement activities during this period. There were 1,241 inspections conducted, with 482 violations identified at 254 of those inspections. The majority of the WPS violations were associated with worker training, central information display, decontamination supplies and lack of personal protection equipment for workers and handlers. Under the new Enforcement Response Guidelines adopted in 2006, DACS has assessed $37,200 in fines for the current period (thru 6/30/08), and collected $27,000 of those fines. DACS feels that workers are becoming more knowledgeable about their rights and protections in the workplace. (Maybe that is why they are looking for H2A workers from Thailand.)

Ground Water Advisory Label Statements: The PRC will be making recommendations to the EPA to revise their ground water advisory statements on pesticide labels. Their concern is that the way the advisory is currently stated, it could potentially make the grower liable for groundwater contamination, rather than the pesticide registrant. One of their concerns is that the label mentions “ground water contamination”, and the PRC wants that changed to “leaching to ground water.” Our concern is that the language not be weakened to suggest non-contamination of groundwater, but the accountability should be on the part of the pesticide registrant, not the grower, unless the grower is using the pesticide contrary to label instructions.

Endosulfan-Everglades National Park Issues: EPA and the National Park Service (NPS) are concerned about effects of endosulfan contamination on wildlife in the Everglades National Park area. (and, what about the health of farmworkers??) There is pressure by EPA and NPS for DACS and SFWMD to devise and conduct further studies in the area. FDACS conducted a power point presentation outlining the results of SFWMD studies and monitoring they have done of endosulfan levels in water and sediments in the Everglades area. The crops with the highest usage of endosulfan in this area are tomatoes and peppers. The break down products of endosulfan are as toxic as endosulfan itself. (Like, DDT, DDE, DDD.) Alpha-endosulfan is highly volatile. Endosulfan bio-accumulates in fish tissue. Most fish samples they studied were not at levels of concern (but, they tested mostly mosquito fish, and not a diverse sampling of fish tissue), but there were several that were of high concentrations. There seemed to be no correlation between levels of endosulfan in water and the levels in the fish tested. It was mentioned that endosulfan has been shown to be bio-accumulating globally. This, of course, is of great significance, but was stated as kind of an after thought towards the end of the presentation. There are new label restrictions for endosulfan, which include a reduced maximum application rate among other changes, and growers are worried that the study to be done will occur before they have enough time to implement the new label instructions, and thus, show high levels of endosulfan. However, endosulfan is an organochlorine and most organochlorines have been banned because they are so harmful. They mentioned that PANNA and NRDC have a lawsuit pending against EPA regarding the continued use of it in the U.S.

FDACS is focusing on grower outreach and compliance in the vicinity of Everglades National Park to make sure that growers understand the importance of following the new label requirements.

The Pesticide Review Council (PRC) advises the Commissioner of Agriculture regarding the sale, use and registration of pesticides and advises government agencies, including the State University System, regarding their responsibilities pertaining to pesticides. The council serves as a statewide forum for the coordination of pesticide-related activities to eliminate duplication of effort and maximize protection of human health and the environment. The Pesticide Review Council consists of eleven (11) scientific members and operates under the authority of Chapter 487, Florida Statutes.
Jeannie Economos is our friend and the Pesticide Safety and Environmental Health Project Coordinator at the Farmworker Association of Florida in Apopka, Florida.