November 18, 2002
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At the mouth of the Smith River is the Smith River Plain, a 10,000-acre expanse of rich bottomland surrounding the Smith River Estuary. Here we find the greatest environmental threat to the Smith River, its denizen species, and the watershed?s human populations: toxics loading by agricultural chemicals used on the nation?s most extensive Easter lily fields, which occupy much of the Smith River Plain.
Since early 2001 the non-profit Smith River Project has worked to reduce pesticide use at the mouth of the Smith River. Through scientific research, local and regional coalition building, promotion of organic alternatives, and advocacy, the Smith River Project?s Estuary Enhancement program has quickly made unprecedented advancements in the politically conservative region.
Dramatic Increase in Del Norte County Pesticide Use
These advancements, unfortunately, do not yet include a reduction in pesticide use. Sadly, Smith River lily farmers appear to be relying more than ever on toxic chemicals despite the human and environmental costs.
In October 2002 the California Department of Pesticide Regulation released the discouraging news that while statewide annual pesticide use dropped to its lowest level on record (dating back to 1990), the total amount used in Del Norte County increased by nearly 100,000 pounds.
The majority of pesticides used on the Smith River Plain are fumigants designed to attack nematodes, which damage the lily bulbs. Fungicides, herbicides and other forms of pesticides are also used. Use of methyl bromide, a notorious ozone-depleting chemical being phased out nationally by 2005, fell in Smith River from 58,805 pounds in 2000 to 24,583 pounds last year. However, use of methyl bromide?s replacement fumigants, 1,3-D and metam sodium, more than doubled from a combined 117,598 pounds in 2000 to 242,494 pounds in 2001. Both chemicals are classified by the Environmental Protection Agency as probable human carcinogens and are highly toxic to aquatic organisms. Several other ?bad actor? chemicals, including disulfoton and chlorothalonil, were also used in greater amounts in 2001.
Fish at Risk
A study recently released by the Smith River Project and the Center for Ethics and Toxics (CETOS) shows that intensive pesticide use on lily fields in the Smith River Plain exceeds the Environmental Protection Agency?s (EPA) established level of concern for endangered aquatic organisms. CETOS compared pesticide use in Del Norte County with that of two major California agricultural counties, Tulare and Kings. While Del Norte County uses approximately 350,000 pounds of pesticides per year as compared to 17 million pounds and 5 million pounds in Tulare and Kings respectively, the intensity of use in Del Norte County rivals and even exceeds that of the two other counties. Further investigation showed that virtually all of the pesticide use in Del Norte County is concentrated around the Smith River Estuary, raising the eyebrows of biologists and biochemists concerned with protecting the river?s exemplary salmonid populations. The study concludes that application rates of several pesticides in the Smith River Plain, measured in pounds of active ingredient per acre, exceed that of these two major agricultural counties.
CETOS used an EPA model, (GENEEC, or ?Generic Estimated Environmental Concentration?) on five chemicals applied in the Smith River Plain to determine whether they are hazardous for endangered aquatic species that use the Smith River estuary. Of the five chemicals selected for review (chlorothalonil, carbofuran, diuron, disulfoton, and pentachloronitrobenzene), four exceeded or met the established levels of concern for endangered aquatic organisms ? meaning that one of the world?s healthiest salmon and steelhead populations is directly threatened by ornamental flower production. (A copy of the study is available at http://www.cetos.org/images/riverassesment.pdf.)
Humans Also at Risk
Two rounds of well-testing conducted by the Smith River Project during the past six months mark the beginning of a pesticide monitoring program at the mouth of one of the world?s cleanest rivers. While testing of private domestic wells has been the most successful element to date of the Smith River Project?s Estuary Enhancement Program, it unfortunately yielded disturbing results: eleven wells contaminated with the agricultural carcinogen 1,2-dichloropropane (1,2-D), and dozens of testimonials by residents that pesticide use on Smith River lily fields is affecting their health.
In August 2001, the California North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board (NCRWQCB) responded to pressure by the Smith River Project and re-opened an old case of 1,2-D contamination in the small town of Smith River, just upstream of the Smith River Estuary. During the 1980s, the NCRWQCB discovered some of the highest levels of 1,2-D contamination found anywhere in the U.S. Out of 46 wells tested, 37 were tainted with 1,2-D at levels that reached 32 times higher than the federal government?s current ?maximum contaminant level? of 5 parts per billion (ppb). Inexplicably, neither the State nor the County took meaningful measures to protect local residents from 1,2-D poisoning that resulted from pesticide use on lily farms in the area. By 1991 the NC RWQCB, citing ?budget cuts,? had virtually abandoned the Smith River area despite 1,2-D levels remaining quite high. The NCRWQCB?s 2001 testing marked only the second time in 10 years that the state had revisited Smith River?s contaminated wells.
The Smith River Project followed the State?s results by testing three wells in December 2001, finding that all three contained 1,2-D above the government?s ?public-health goal? of 0.5 ppb. The Smith River Project then asked NCRWQCB to conduct more comprehensive well tests in Smith River; citing a lack of funds, the State refused. The next logical step was for the Smith River Project to conduct its own comprehensive testing. Placing two full-page ads in the local daily newspaper, the Project announced a ?Free Water Testing Day? to occur June 15, 2002, with a mobile water testing lab to be parked at the public boat launch in Smith River to offer residents quick results.
Free Water Testing Program Under Attack
Smith River lily farmers (who grow nearly 90 percent of all U.S. lily bulbs) rallied 100 Del Norte County residents to oppose the Smith River Project?s Free Water Testing Day. Speakers included members of gun clubs and property-rights groups, several of whom accused the Smith River Project of acting as a ?front? for U.S. corporations and the United Nations in an effort to forcefully relocate rural residents to urban areas and take over their land for parks to be used by ?the elite.? One speaker claimed that the Free Water Testing Program was akin to the September 11 attack on the World Trade Center. Nonetheless, many local residents in the politically cloistered county found the growers? rally to be overreacting and transparent. ?The farmers and their supporters went ballistic protesting the well testing,? said a Crescent City letter writer to the Del Norte County Triplicate. ?Such behavior is characteristic of a cover-up. What do they know or suspect that they don?t want the rest of us to know??
Of the 17 wells tested in the Smith River area, four were found tainted. One registered 5.6 ppb of 1,2-D, another was 5 ppb and a third came in at 4.5 ppb. The fourth well tested at 1 ppb. Perhaps most surprising about the contamination was that these were all deep wells (between 110 and 120 feet each), three of which had never been tested by the state.
The NCRWQCB agreed to conduct further testing to verify these findings and discovered seven additional wells contaminated with 1,2-D and levels of nitrates ?in just about all of them,? according to NCRWQCB official Tuck Vath. Elevated nitrate levels can be dangerous to infants and elders. The Smith River Project is sharing groundwater information with the NCRWQCB and encouraging the agency to reinstate its abandoned monitoring program. The Project is also providing Smith River residents with site-specific lists of pesticides used adjacent or near their homes, and the potential health effects of those pesticides. Soon the Smith River Project will test surface waters, soil, air quality, estuary muds, fish, and plants in and around the Smith River Estuary. In addition, the Project will conduct a human-health assessment to determine the risks posed by lily-field pesticides to humans, reflecting numerous testimonials by Smith River residents who complain of health problems including skin and respiratory ailments, stomach problems and elevated levels of cancer.
All of this will hopefully lead to enforcement by State and Federal agencies of several environmental laws, including the Federal Clean Water Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, the Federal and State Endangered Species Acts, and the California Environmental Quality Act. Each of these laws by itself should be enough to halt the exorbitant discharges of toxic pesticides into the heart of California?s healthiest fishery. Barring, or in addition to, enforcement, a conversion of agricultural practices to organic and biodynamic ? which is already happening on the Smith River Plain with one large rancher?s organic dairy production ? could have the singular effect of removing one of the greatest environmental hazards ever to impact the Smith River, the renowned "crown jewel" of America?s Wild and Scenic River system.
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TOC for Forest & River News, Fall 2002