[Pollinator] SustainableLife: Ag department lifts ban on insecticides used in bee kill

[Jennifer Tsang]

Ag department lifts ban on insecticides used in bee kill


Created on Monday, 09 December 2013 16:50 | Written by
<http://portlandtribune.com/component/contact/contact/> Wilsonville
Spokesman|
<http://portlandtribune.com/sl/203854-ag-department-lifts-ban-on-insecticide
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by: JOSH KULLA - More than 50,000 bumblebees were killed in Wilsonville in
June when a landscaping company applied Safari insecticide to blooming
linden trees. Now state officials hope new labeling requirements for
neonicotinoid products will help prevent similar incidents. 

by: JOSH KULLA - More than 50,000 bumblebees were killed in Wilsonville in
June when a landscaping company applied Safari insecticide to blooming
linden trees. Now state officials hope new labeling requirements for
neonicotinoid products will help prevent similar incidents.

A temporary ban on the insecticide that killed more than 50,000 bumblebees
and other pollinators in a Wilsonville parking lot has been lifted by the
Oregon Department of Agriculture.

Instead of a permanent ban on the use of dinotefuran, the insecticide
applied to dozens of linden trees in the Wilsonville Target parking lot, the
ODA announced last week it will instead require only that manufacturers of
neonicotinoid-class insecticides apply new, Oregon-specific labels to their
products.

The department is requiring specific label statements restricting the use of
products containing the active ingredients dinotefuran and imidacloprid
while strengthening outreach and education efforts to pesticide users on
pollinator protection. These moves were announced at a Nov. 21 hearing of
the Oregon Legislature's House Interim Committee on Agriculture and Natural
Resources.

"In response to last June's large bumblebee deaths connected to the use of
these pesticide products, our agency has come up with a good and
comprehensive plan that we believe will minimize the chances of these
incidents from taking place in the future," said ODA Director Katy Coba. "We
take these incidents seriously and we are stepping up both our regulatory
and educational efforts."

The temporary ban was imposed over the summer following an incident in
Wilsonville, where a landscaping company applied dinotefuran with the brand
name "Safari" to blooming linden trees. It applied to 18 specific products
containing those chemicals.

The blooming linden trees attracted tens of thousands of bumblebees and
other insects, which then were killed by the chemical. A smaller but similar
incident also took place in Hillsboro just days after the mass bumblebee
kill in Wilsonville.

Linden trees already contain naturally-occuring compounds that are toxic to
bees and other pollinators. The addition of neonicotinoid chemicals during
the blooming period only amplified that effect, the ODA said.

Instead of an outright ban, the state now will require that makers of
neonicotinoid insecticides apply labels to product sold in Oregon specifying
that such chemicals are not for use on trees in the Tilia genus, which
include linden and basswood trees.

While environmental groups feel these restrictions do not go far enough, the
Oregon Association of Nurseries views the lifting of the temporary ban as
"reasonable."

"(It) still allows growers and others to use the effective chemicals in a
label-consistent and safe manner," OAN Executive Director Jeff Stone said in
a press release.

Coba also has sent a letter to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
requesting additional evaluation of neonicotinoids to determine if use
limitations on a national basis should be considered.

Oregon's agriculture department also announced expanded educational efforts
on pollinator protection to licensed pesticide applicators and the general
public. For applicators, additional emphasis on pollinator protection will
be included in the required testing and recertification process to become
licensed. Outreach to the general public will include information on ODA's
website as well as brochures and other materials distributed through master
gardener programs and retail outlets.

The ODA says it still is investigating the mass-bee-kill incidents and a
formal report is due later this month.

 

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