http://tinyurl.com/brkfc7j

>Last Wednesday close to a hundred people attended a public hearing at the
Riverhead campus of Suffolk County Community College, sponsored by the
Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), to comment on the draft of
the Long Island Pesticide Pollution Prevention Strategy. The strategy, which
was released in January, is dramatically different than a draft plan DEC had
released in 2011. The draft plan had initially received praise from
environmental organizations for its "zero tolerance policy"  to ensure
certain chemicals did not end up in Long Island's drinking water. However,
the revamped strategy fails to offer any meaningful protective measures or
strong pesticide regulations. This is concerning, given trace amounts of
metalaxyl, imidacloprid and atrazine have been repeatedly detected in test
wells, along with 117 other pesticides detected in Long Island drinking
water.

>State officials argued that pesticide levels in Long Island's drinking
water are far below federal standards. However, the pesticides that have
been found in the drinking water have been linked to several health and
environmental problems. Because of these health and environmental risks the
Citizens Campaign for the Environment, a grassroots organization working in
Long Island, has called for DEC to ban the use imidacloprid, atrazine, and
metalaxyl.

>Imidacloprid, atrazine, and metalaxyl have all been linked to health and
environmental problems. Imidacloprid is a systemic, chloronicotinyl
insecticide used for the control of sucking insects. Notably, the chemical
is also a neonictinoid insecticide which has played a major role in recent
pollinator declines. Neonicotinoids are known to be persistent in the
environment, and when used as seed treatments, translocate to residues in
pollen and nectar of treated plants, to the detriment of feeding insect
pollinators, birds, and other beneficial organisms. Imidacloprid has been
detected in Long Island's ground water for the past eleven years.
Concentrations have been found as high as 407 parts per billion (ppb) which
far exceeds the 50 ppb limit for drinking water. Imidacloprid has been found
890 times in 179 locations on Long Island.
enews Park forest - Washington, DC--(ENEWSPF)--April 9, 2013.

Kind regards,

Ghislain De Roeck,
Belgium.

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