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<div class=Section1>
<h1><b><font size=6 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:24.0pt'>Lawsuit
seeks EPA pesticide data<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></h1>
<p class=byline><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><a href="mailto:jkay@sfchronicle.com">Jane Kay, Chronicle Environment
Writer</a><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=date><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Tuesday,
August 19, 2008<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><a
href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/c/a/2008/08/19/MNKR12DBPO.DTL&o=0&type=printable"><span
style='text-decoration:none'><img border=0 width=64 height=64 id="_x0000_i1032"
src="cid:image001.gif@01C901DD.47427E30" vspace=1
alt="A special breed of honeybee from Arizona gathers pollen f..."></span></a><a
href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/c/a/2008/08/19/MNKR12DBPO.DTL&o=1&type=printable"><span
style='text-decoration:none'><img border=0 width=64 height=64 id="_x0000_i1033"
src="cid:image002.gif@01C901DD.47427E30" vspace=1
alt="A honey bee lands on an almond blossom."></span></a><a
href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/c/a/2008/08/19/MNKR12DBPO.DTL&o=2&type=printable"><span
style='text-decoration:none'><img border=0 width=64 height=64 id="_x0000_i1034"
src="cid:image003.gif@01C901DD.47427E30" vspace=1
alt="An environmental group has filed suit to force the EPA to..."></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><strong><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><span
id=articlebody>(08-18) 18:37 PDT </span></font></b></strong>-- The U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency is refusing to disclose records about a new
class of pesticides that could be playing a role in the disappearance of
millions of honeybees in the United States, a lawsuit filed Monday charges. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>The
Natural Resources Defense Council wants to see the studies that the EPA
required when it approved a pesticide made by Bayer CropScience five years ago.
<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>The
environmental group filed the suit as part of an effort to find out how
diligently the EPA is protecting honeybees from dangerous pesticides, said
Aaron Colangelo, a lawyer for the group in <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Washington</st1:place></st1:State>.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>In the
last two years, beekeepers have reported unexplained losses of hives - 30
percent and upward - leading to a phenomenon called colony collapse disorder.
Scientists believe that the decline in bees is linked to an onslaught of
pesticides, mites, parasites and viruses, as well as a loss of habitat and
food. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<h3><b><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt'>$15
billion in crops<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></h3>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Bees
pollinate about one-third of the human diet, $15 billion worth of <st1:country-region
w:st="on">U.S.</st1:country-region> crops, including almonds in <st1:State
w:st="on">California</st1:State>, blueberries in <st1:State w:st="on">Maine</st1:State>,
cucumbers in <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">North Carolina</st1:place></st1:State>
and 85 other commercial crops, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Not finding a cause of the collapse could prove costly, scientists warn.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Representatives
of the EPA said they hadn't seen the suit and couldn't comment.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Clothianidin
is the pesticide at the center of controversy. It is used to coat corn, sugar
beet and sorghum seeds and is part of a class of pesticides called
neonicotinoids. The pesticide was blamed for bee deaths in <st1:country-region
w:st="on">France</st1:country-region> and <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Germany</st1:place></st1:country-region>, which also is dealing with
a colony collapse. Those two countries have suspended its use until further
study. An EPA fact sheet from 2003 says clothianidin has the potential for
toxic chronic exposure to honey bees, as well as other pollinators, through
residues in nectar and pollen. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>The EPA
granted conditional registration for clothianidin in 2003 and at the same time
required that Bayer CropScience submit studies on chronic exposure to
honeybees, including a complete worker bee lifecycle study as well as an
evaluation of exposure and effects to the queen, the group said. The queen,
necessary for a colony, lives a few years; the workers live only six weeks, but
there is no honey without them.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>"The
public has no idea whether those studies have been submitted to the EPA or not
and, if so, what they show. Maybe they never came in. Maybe they came in, and
they show a real problem for bees. Maybe they're poorly conducted studies that
don't satisfy EPA's requirement," Colangelo said.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<h3><b><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt'>Request
for records<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></h3>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>On July
17, after getting no response from the EPA about securing the studies, the
environmental group filed a request under the Freedom of Information Act, which
requires the records within 20 business days absent unusual circumstances. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>When the
federal agency missed the August deadline, the group filed the lawsuit, asking
the U.S. District Court in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Washington</st1:City>,
<st1:State w:st="on">D.C.</st1:State></st1:place>, to force the EPA to turn
over the records.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Greg
Coffey, a spokesman for Bayer CropScience in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City
w:st="on">Research Triangle Park</st1:City>, <st1:State w:st="on">N.C.</st1:State></st1:place>,
said controlled field studies have demonstrated that clothianidin, when used
correctly, will not harm bees. He added that all of EPA's requirements for
conditional registration of clothianidin have been submitted to the agency.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>An EPA
spokesman, Dale Kemery, said the agency couldn't comment on the documents
required under the conditional registration because the matter is the subject
of litigation.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<h3><b><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt'>Unusual
circumstances<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></h3>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Generally,
the EPA has taken the position that the bee deaths occurred under unusual
circumstances. In <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Germany</st1:place></st1:country-region>,
the corn lacked a seed coating that ensured that the pesticide stuck to the
seed, and equipment blew the pesticide into a nearby canola field where bees
fed.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>The EPA
is "reasonably confident" that a bee kill similar to Germany's
wouldn't happen in the United States because use is restricted to commercial
applicators who use stickier coatings, according to Kemery.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>But
because the stickier coatings aren't required, Kemery said, the EPA will review
its policies on seed-treatment labels.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>In <st1:State
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">California</st1:place></st1:State>, according to
the 2006 Pesticide Use Report Summary, about 3 pounds of clothianidin was used,
all on corn. Other members of the neonicotinoid class, registered for a longer
period of time, have been used more frequently, including 127,000 pounds on
broccoli, grapes, lettuce and oranges. Some pesticides were used in buildings.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>"We've
been monitoring the bee die-off situation for a couple of years, and it's a
complex puzzle that may also involve mites, viruses and other factors,"
said Glenn Brank, communications director for the state Department of Pesticide
Regulation.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>The
agency is conducting its own review of environmental data from registered
neonicotinoid pesticides as well as watching enforcement reports from counties
for any unusual environmental incidents involving bees, he said. None was
noted, Brank said.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Scientists
presenting at the American Chemical Society national meeting Monday reported
that dozens of pesticides had been found in samples of adult bees, broods,
pollen and wax collected from honeybee colonies suspected to have died from
symptoms of colony collapse disorder, including some neonicotinoids.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Entomologist
Gabriela Chavarria, director of Natural Resources Defense Council's <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Science</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType
w:st="on">Center</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>, said over the years bees have
had to withstand devastating problems.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Bees pick
up deadly farm and home chemicals when they visit flowers, or encounter
chemical drift from aerial and other applications. Fifteen years ago, queen
bees imported from <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">China</st1:place></st1:country-region>
brought varroa mites that attacked broods of worker bees. Microscopic tracheal
mites invade the hives.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>And now
the new pesticide, clothianidin, is another problem, Chavarria said. Scientists
must find out whether the toxicity has been sufficiently studied, she said.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>"We
want this information now. We cannot continue to wait. Bees are disappearing.
Our whole existence depends on them because we eat. The flowers need to be
pollinated, and the only ones to do it are the bees."<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<h3><b><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt'>Colony
collapse <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></h3>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Honeybees,
which pollinate everything from almonds to apples to avocados, began abandoning
their colonies in 2006, destroying about a third of their hives.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Since
then, their numbers have not improved. A survey of beekeepers in the fall and
winter 2007 by the Bee Research Lab and the Apiary Inspectors of America showed
that beekeepers lost about 35 percent of their hives compared with 31 percent
in 2006.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Scientists
have not pinpointed the cause.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>In 2007,
Congress recognized colony collapse disorder as a threat and gave the U.S.
Department of Agriculture emergency funds to study honeybee disappearances. In
addition, the 2008 Farm Bill grants the USDA $20 million each year to support
bee research and related work. And earlier this year, ice cream maker
Haagen-Dazs, who relies on honeybees for 40 percent of its flavors, awarded a
$250,000 research grant to UC Davis and <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">Pennsylvania</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">State</st1:PlaceType>
<st1:PlaceType w:st="on">University</st1:PlaceType></st1:place> to research
honeybees.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<h3><b><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.5pt'>More
info <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></h3>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>-- The
Environmental Protection Agency: <em><i><font face="Times New Roman">links.sfgate</font></i></em><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><em><i><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>.com/ZEOF</span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>-- U.S.
EPA fact sheet on the pesticide clothianidin: <em><i><font
face="Times New Roman">links.sfgate</font></i></em><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><em><i><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>.com/ZEOI</span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>-- The
Natural Resources Defense Council: <em><i><font face="Times New Roman">links.sfgate</font></i></em><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><em><i><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>.com/ZEOG</span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=dtlcomment><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>E-mail Jane Kay at <a href="mailto:jkay@sfchronicle.com">jkay@sfchronicle.com</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</span>
<p id=url><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/08/19/MNKR12DBPO.DTL<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p id=pageno><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>This
article appeared on page <strong><b><font face="Times New Roman">A - 1</font></b></strong>
of the San Francisco Chronicle<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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