Pesticide Residue & Bringing A Fish Back

No pesticide residue… period.
This is The Environment Report. I’m Lester Graham.
The Environmental Protection Agency has said… no, not even a little of the pesticide carbofuran left on food.
Carbofuran’s commercial name is Furadan. It’s made by F-M-C Corporation.

The pesticide is used on crops to control bugs and rootworms. Mark Brush has been looking into this ruling. So Mark what kinds of foods is this stuff on?

Well – it’s not used on as many crops as it once was – that’s because the chemical has been on the EPA’s radar screen for phasing out for quite awhile.

But… Furadan is still used on crops like rice, corn, and potatoes.

LG: So what’s the concern?

Well as we said Furadan kills bugs… and… just about anything else that eats enough of it.

Bird conservationists say this pesticide has killed millions of migrating birds.. When people are exposed – it can cause damage to the nervous system – and the EPA is particularly worried about exposure to kids.

LG: What do farmers have to say about losing Furadan?

I called up John Keeling. He’s the CEO of the National Potato Council. He says they were hoping the EPA would let them keep using it:

“We had tried to work with the agency to modify use patterns, or limit the use to particular areas, so that we could continue to use the product – but they obviously didn’t continue in that direction.”

FMC Corporation is released a statement saying they will argue against this new rule and hope farmers will be able to use the pesticide next year.

O.k. Thanks….
(((STING)))
This is The Environment Report.

A fish that literally clogged the waterways of the Nation’s capitol during George Washington’s time was nearly wiped out by overfishing and pollution. But Sabri Ben Achour reports… a decades long conservation project (is bringing) them back. …

1:57

A million year old cycle of fish migration almost came to an end in the waters off of the nation’s capital. But a monumental conservation effort has brought them back from the brink.. ..
RUNs
SOC
On a boat in the middle of the potomac at 10 oclock at night, a group of biologists are catching a silvery fish called Shad.
a.) ANOTHER RIPE FEMALE SEE THE EGGS?
Virginia Wildlife biologist Catherine Lim squeezes the female shad, and its eggs spurt into a metal bowl.
b.) IT LOOKS LIKE APPLE SAUCE
She squeezes several males to fertilize the brew of little spheres.
c.) WE'LL BAG THEM UP AND SEND THEM TO THE FISH HATCHERY.
This is all part of an effort to restore the population of the American Shad. For millions of years, this large, iridescent, silvery fish has swum in from the ocean to this area to spawn in spring. According to newspaper reports from a hundred and fifty years ago, the fish were so plentiful they turned the river silver every April. Jim Cummins is a biologist, he read those reports.
d.) THE WAGONS WOULD COME INTO GEORGETOWN WERE SO HEAVY THAT THEY CRAMMED UP THE CITY - I THINK IT'S THE FIRST REPORT OF GRIDLOCK IN WASHINGTON
AND then came pollution, overfishing, and dams.
e.) IN THE 1960'S, THERE WERE TIMES WHEN THE MIGRATORY FISH CAME UP TO SPAWN IN THE AREA AND MET THAT POLLUTION AND HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF THEM DIED AND MADE A STINKING MESS
The fish were almost wiped out by the 1980's. So Cummins began an ambitious restoration project. Over a decade he and colleagues collected millions of eggs, fertilized and hatched them, and released them back into the river. They worked with fish hatcheries and even elementary schools. Fishways were built into dams, sewage treatment plants were upgraded. The Shad population exploded.
At a boat house just outside of DC, Anglers Steve Bocat and Louis Covax are enjoying success that up until recently, few alive have seen here.
8 IT WAS GREAT WE HAD INCREDIBLE FISHING I MEAN BETWEEN THE TWO OF US WE HAD WHAT 50-60 FISH UP TO THE BOAT
Another sign of success, a pair of Bald Eagles recently returned to the area following the fish – the first in decades.
Sabri Ben-Achour


A cleaned up river… and a little hard work by a handful of people really can make a difference.
That’s The Environment Report. I’m Lester Graham.