[lofo List] Organic Farm Awarded Compensation For Pesticide Contamination

[Daryl Hepting <hepting@cs.uregina.ca>]

http://www.beyondpesticides.org/dailynewsblog/?p=685

Organic Farm Awarded Compensation For Pesticide Contamination
(Beyond Pesticides, October 1, 2008) Last week, a jury awarded $1  
million in compensation to an organic farm in Santa Cruz, California,  
whose herbs were contaminated by pesticides. The jury found that  
organophosphate pesticides, used on vegetables on neighboring farms,  
drifted onto the organic farm, leaving the herbs in violation of  
organic standards.

The organic farm, Jacobs Farm Del Cabo, filed a lawsuit against the  
pesticide application company Western Farm Service, Inc. in May 2007.  
The suit sought an order to stop Western Farm Service from spraying  
pesticides that contaminate crops at Wilder Ranch State Park, where  
Jacobs Farm leases 120 acres. Compensation for losses, in the sum of  
$1 million, which resulted from pesticide contamination, was also  
sought. The court ruled that pesticide applications by Western Farm  
Service resulted in trespass of the pesticides onto Jacobs Farm and  
were legally determined to be a nuisance depriving Jacobs Farm of the  
right to use and enjoy the land, caused by negligence on the part of  
Western Farm Services. The jury found that Jacobs Farm was damaged in  
the sum of $1 million and Judge Robert Atack ordered judgment in that  
amount against Western Farm Service.

The organophosphates, chlorpyrifos, diazinon, and dimethoate, were  
applied to Brussels sprouts and then evaporated and drifted onto  
organically cultivated culinary herbs including sage, rosemary and  
dill at Jacob Farm. The farm first discovered trace residues of  
chlorpyrifos and diazinon in October 2006 and management immediately  
stopped harvesting the affected crops. The use of organophosphates and  
other pesticide chemicals are prohibited in organic farming. The farm  
notified the County Agriculture Commissioner and the state Department  
of Pesticide Regulation, which said they found no violations. It also  
contacted Western Farm Service, which promised to take precautions  
against windblown contamination.

Western Farm Services said it is likely to appeal the verdict, saying  
they followed standards on the product labels and county agricultural  
permits when applying the pesticides. The company argues that Jacobs  
Farm should not have come into an area where conventional farming was  
taking place with its “incompatible crops.” In their statement,  
Western Farm Services said that assessing the uses and risks of  
pesticides should be the job of federal, state and county regulators,  
not local juries. It also said the verdict “raises concerns about  
future use of organophosphates in California.”

“The scientific community’s growing knowledge of how these chemicals  
move in the environment after application was not considered by  
pesticide applicators or government regulators. Regulations  
prohibiting the continued application of pesticides that damage crops  
on other farms are in place. But until now, these prohibitions did not  
apply to damage from pesticides when they evaporate after they are  
applied,“ said Larry Jacobs, president of Jacobs Farm Del Cabo.

According to Nathan Benjamin, an attorney for the organic farm,  
neither federal nor state regulations account for the environmental  
characteristic of organophosphates or provide any protection for  
organic farmers. The jury verdict signaled the need for regulations to  
protect growers against volatile pesticides that can drift after they  
are applied.

Under the organic regulations, only naturally-derived pesticides may  
qualify for inclusion (if they meet the organic standards), and the  
inert ingredients must also be on the National Organic Standards  
approved list of inerts. The use of synthetic pesticides, chemical  
fertilizers, antibiotics, sewage sludge, genetically modified  
organisms, and irradiation is prohibited in organic production.
Organophosphates (OPs) like chlorpyrifos have been found to remain in  
the air at very high concentrations 24hrs after application. Residues  
remain on plant surfaces for approximately 10 to 14 days. Data  
indicate that OPs can accumulate in certain crops and persist in the  
environment. OPs were the first group of chemicals to go through  
tolerance reassessment under the 1996 Food Quality Protection Act  
because they are known to pose risks of acute and chronic toxicity to  
humans as well as wildlife. They are also considered to be the most  
likely pesticide to cause an acute poisoning.

Source: Environmental News Service, San Francisco Chronicle

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 1st, 2008 at 7:39 am	 and  
is filed under Alternatives/Organics, California, Chemical Trespass  
(Drift), Chlorpyrifos, Diazinon, Litigation. You can follow any  
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--

Daryl H. Hepting, Ph.D.
Associate Professor  * Computer Science Department * CW 308.22
University of Regina * Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada S4S 0A2
dhh@cs.uregina.ca    * http://www.cs.uregina.ca/~hepting
tel: (306) 585-5210  * fax: (306) 585-4745 * cell: (306) 596-6312


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