For Immediate Release: July 29, 2002

Contact: , American Bird Conservancy, 202/234-7181 ext. 207

Conservation Groups Prevent Use of Eagle-killing Pesticide
EPA Reverses Decision to Allow Granular Carbofuran on Louisiana Rice

An important victory for birds and other wildlife was won today by a coalition of conservation groups, brought together by American Bird Conservancy (ABC), and including Defenders of Wildlife, Humane Society of the United States, National Audubon Society, Natural Resources Defense Council, Rachel Carson Council, Sierra Club, and World Wildlife Fund, plus several Louisiana-based groups. Action from these groups has prompted the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to revoke the authorization it had previously granted allowing use of the deadly pesticide carbofuran to control rice water weevil in Louisiana, preventing the deaths of possibly thousands of birds.

Carbofuran is among the most highly toxic pesticides known to birds. A single granule is lethal, and more than fifty species, including Bald and Golden Eagle, Eastern Bluebird, Great Horned Owl, Red-tailed Hawk, Kestrel, Northern Pintail, and Blue-winged Teal, have been documented as having died from carbofuran poisoning. The granular formulation of the pesticide was the most lethal to birds and was phased out from legal use beginning in 1991. EPA estimated that prior to cancellation of the granular formulation, up to two million birds were killed each year by carbofuran. In fact, no other substance listed under the EPA’s Ecological Incident Investigation System has killed more birds, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) has stated that "There are no known conditions under which carbofuran can be used without killing migratory birds."

Environmentalists were alarmed when they became aware that EPA was considering a "Section 18 - Emergency Use" application for the granular form of the pesticide on up to 100,000 acres of rice crops in Louisiana, and were outraged when EPA issued a permit allowing 10,000 acres to be dosed with the toxic substance without alerting FWS, the public, or conservation groups.

Conservation groups quickly mobilized, and together they convinced EPA to reduce the permit from 10,000 acres to 2,500 acres, and open a public comment period before any further use was considered.

More than 6,000 public comments subsequently resulted including a letter signed by 55 conservation groups. EPA officials were impressed by the response and in a letter to the groups cited "compelling feedback from the public" as one of the primary reasons the Louisiana permit was revoked.

"This is a very important victory for birds and other wildlife," said Patti Bright, Director of ABC’s Pesticides and Birds Campaign. "We are delighted that EPA has made the right decision for the environment, based on the irrefutable scientific evidence that granular carbofuran is lethal and should not be allowed."

Jennifer Sass, a senior scientist with the Natural Resources Defense Council, said, "EPA was caught with its hand in the "Emergency Exemption" jar again, without an emergency, and without justification for an exemption". And Caroline Kennedy special projects director for Defenders of Wildlife said "We are very pleased that the EPA today recognized what it has known since 1989: granular carbofuran is so toxic to birds that it should not ever be used. Today's decision to revoke authorization of carbofuran use on thousands of acres of Louisiana rice fields is a victory for birds and other wildlife."