Fwd: NEWS: Poisoning Birds

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From: " Audubon " <audubon@...>

Date: 28 Jun 2002 07:36:36 -0400

Subject: OPP-2002-0124: Opposition to Section 18, Granular Carbofuran

Message-ID: <20020628073603.FA10E69B.AE1CF10C@...>

EPA TO ALLOW LOUISIANA TO USE BIRD KILLING PESTICIDE

Public Has Only 5 Days to Help Stop This From Happening!

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has granted an emergency

request by Louisiana rice growers to combat rice weevils by using 1,500

pounds of granular carbofuran - one of the world's most potent

bird-killing pesticides -- on 10,000 acres of rice fields. An

additional 4,500 pounds of the deadly pesticide may be produced to meet

the rice growers' demands. Audubon and our partners in conservation are

working to see that they are stopped from rolling back bird protections

to produce more of this poison and apply it to rice fields as a

bird-killing trap.

EPA initially intended to grant the rice growers an " emergency use "

application, without seeking public comment or alerting conservation

groups However, after pressure from Audubon and other groups, EPA has

agreed to allow only enough pesticide to cover 2,500 acres immediately,

and have opened a five-day public comment period, beginning Thursday,

June 27th, before they decide whether to authorize carbofuran use, and

give the green light for more bird-poison production, to cover the

remaining 7,500 acres.

Laboratory data verify that carbofuran is among the most highly toxic

pesticides to birds. One tiny granule can kill a songbird, and more than

fifty species, including Bald and Golden Eagle, Eastern Bluebird, Great

Horned Owl, Red-tailed Hawk, Northern Pintail, and Blue-winged Teal, have

been documented as having died from carbofuran poisoning. EPA estimated

that prior to cancellation of the granular formulation, up to two million

birds were killed each year by carbofuran. No other substance listed

under the EPA 's Ecological Incident Investigation System has killed more

birds. In October 1999, for example, nearly 27,000 migratory birds,

including red-winged blackbirds and horned larks, were killed on a

13-acre plot when a farmer illegally applied carbofuran to wheat seed and

spread it between rows of wheat crop intentionally as bait for the birds.

However, it does not require malice to kill birds with one of the world's

most dangerous bird-killing poisons. Scientists at the U.S. Fish and

Wildlife Service (FWS) stated that " there are no known conditions under

which carbofuran can be used without killing migratory birds. Many of

these die-off incidents followed applications of carbofuran that were

made with extraordinary care. " . Scientists from around the country

concur. In southwest Louisiana, where the rice farmers want to apply

the poison, hundreds of species of birds could be at risk, including the

threatened bald eagle. The proposed carbofuran poisoning could have a

particularly devastating impact on bird species that are often found in

large numbers in rice fields, such as wading birds and neotropical

migrant shorebirds. A single exposure to the deadly pesticide of a large

group of Buff-breasted Sandpipers or Short-billed Dowitchers, for

example, could wipe out a globally significant number of their remaining

population. Both species are list ed on Audubon's WatchList of birds

that could be headed for extinction, and would be migrating through

southwest Louisiana at the time the pesticides would be applied.

Four pesticides are registered for use against the rice water weevil that

are not nearly the potent bird-killer that carbofuran has proven to be.

According to Louisiana State University, these pesticides work as well or

better than carbofuran and for equal or lesser cost.

That's why Audubon and our partner organizations are committed to

stopping any further use of the bird-killer carbofuran - but we can't do

it alone. We need your help - and we need it now, as the EPA will make

their decision in less than five days!

Please send a message to the EPA immediately and urge them to deny any

further use of carbofuran! Click onto this link to send your message

right now - and please encourage your family and friends to do so as

well! The clock is ticking...and thousands of birds are at stake!

http://www.capitolconnect.com/audubon/contact/default.asp?subject=56

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