We depend on public agencies to provide and protect clean drinking water. Yet California agriculture rarely controls their water pollution. If not now, when will agriculture stop polluting our ground water, rivers, lakes, and ocean? Agricultural water pollution threatens our drinking water, our seafood, marine life and habitat, our fishing industry, and our water recreation. (Please view the Surfrider Foundation's "Cycle of Insanity" - Part I to see how agriculture pollutes water.)
Here, in Part II, we'll discuss how the agricultural toxins are polluting water, as well as the disconnect of the public agencies whose mission is to protect people, the environment, and the food supply by ensuring the safe use of pesticides.
Also,The Otter Project. "Otters need clean water. Sea otters are swimming in a soup of agricultural runoff, chemicals, and diseases washing from our shores,' said Shimek, founder of the project. "Improving water quality for sea otters is good for people too. Every surfer, scuba diver, and beachgoer is swimming in the same water."
California sea otters are a federally listed species under the Endangered Species Act. Their health is an indication of ocean water quality. The US Geologic Survey reported that in 2010, 60 of the 302 sea otters found dead along the California coast were found from Cayucos to Hazard Canyon (near the coastal towns of Cayucos and Morro Bay). Also, more pups and female otters were found dead this year. "This spring the pup count was very low, the lowest number of pups in many years; today's news reinforces our impression that the California sea otter population is struggling," said Shimek. Solutions are easy to understand but difficult to implement. "Preventing oil spills and improving habitat and water quality are the answers," said Shimek.
The Salinas and Santa Maria Rivers contain California's most toxic ambient waters flowing into the ocean. The source of the toxins, reported by the Central Coast Regional Water Quality Board, is agricultural chemicals. Also, the Central Coast Region (Santa Barbara to Santa Cruz) has the most toxic inland surface water in the state of California, and these polluted waters leach into ground water and flow into the ocean. The Surface Water Ambient Monitoring Program of the State Water Resources Control Board November, 2010 report: "Summary of Toxicity in California Waters: 2001-2009" discusses this complex water pollution problem.
The report, as reviewed by Steve Shimek of the Monterey Coastkeeper, summarizes toxicity results of 7007 water samples taken from 992 sites throughout the state. The toxicity is generally caused by pesticides. Agricultural pesticides are regulated by the Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) and the County Agricultural Commissioner. Shimek states, "The Ag Commissioner counts and catalogues but seldom regulates." The agency directly responsible for water quality is the Regional Water Quality Control Board. The agricultural community, including the DPR and the AG Commissioners, are opposing new stricter regulation proposed by the Water Board. The next Water Board meeting is March 17, 2011, in Watsonville. Shimek adds, "The regulators need to regulate and not bend to agriculture's influence."
To learn how well San Luis Obispo County (SLOC) is protecting the public from pesticide pollution, Karl Kempton attended the SLOC Health Commission meeting on Monday, January 10, 2011. The first agenda item was the Pesticide Program Update by the SLOC Ag Commission which assured the public that all the state regulations as well as application and safety instructions on the pesticide, herbicide, and fungicide labels were followed. However, Kempton observed, there was absolutely no mention about the Ag chemical runoff into the county's rivers streams and creeks, as well as leaching into the ground water. During public comment, Kempton gave a summary of his personal experience living next to a farm that used pesticides.
The second agenda item was the Report on the Irrigated Ag Order by Michael Thomas of the Water Board. Thomas stated some alarming statistics for the California Central Coast:
*75,000 tons of nitrates going into ground water each year from irrigated agriculture
*83% of population uses ground water for drinking water
*44% of municipal wells impacted from nitrate leaching
*31% of municipal wells are just below standards
*Unknown number of private wells are impacted, but are not tested
*Highest number of surface water sites polluted from pesticides
*Oso Flaco Lake is polluted with legacy pesticides like DDT as well as current pesticides
The following is Kempton's personal overview response to the subject matter of the meeting:
I attended the SLOC Health Commission meeting because of the two topics related to agricultural chemicals. The presentation by SLO County Ag Commission staff was of interest because of my personal experience: my neighborhood, family and I were constantly exposed to agricultural chemicals over 20 years. I noticed that if one had no experiential knowledge of pesticide application, one could assume all is well. There were only 50 complaints by individuals for the year 2010, and only three individuals were told to see a doctor. What went unmentioned was that a visit to a doctor regarding pesticide exposure for regulatory response is often useless unless one has a blood test baseline. The second item on the agenda—agricultural chemicals polluting our drinking wells and rivers, streams and creeks—was also of special interest to me.
I live in a neighborhood into which a commercial strawberry farm was inserted, replacing a Christmas tree farm. Over the years, following required the Ag Commissioners' office protocol, many formal written complaints were submitted dealing with pesticide, herbicide, and fungicide exposures. Despite close county and State Ag oversight, drift and exposures could not be stopped. The following is a list of symptoms and health problems reported from people within a four block radius of the field.
• Low grade to sinus to migraine headaches lasting a day to a week
• Flu like symptoms and weaknesses, disorientation
• Loss of memory
• Asthma attacks -- low to severe
• Fatigue
• Muscle aches
• Constant low grade cough lasting months
• Skin eruptions -- small to large welts, hives, skin rash
• Metallic taste
• Diarrhea
• Pressure in chest
• Shooting ear pain
• Sore throat
• Running nose
• Dizziness
• Bronchitis
• Visits to emergency room and doctors
• Watery eyes and swelling of tissue around eye
• Pneumonia.
Moreover, in three consecutive years on one block adjacent to the field, there was a miscarriage, an infant death caused by a birth defect, and a serious birth defect corrected by surgery.
These symptoms continued despite efforts by county and state agricultural inspectors insuring that the applicators followed the regulations and label instructions. The state studied the health problems and issued a report. None of us were permitted to read it because our names were in the report! They hid the results from us under the rules of medical confidentiality. The good news is that eventually the owners of the land became convinced of the health hazards. They ended the commercial strawberry farming and leased the land to a non-chemical farming operation. Not the state nor the county, but the property owners changed the rules of farming.
Tiny pesticide exposure during pregnancy can have long-term impact on female offspring.
Within three months after the chemical applications ceased, all the symptoms disappeared. Both the Agricultural Commission and Health Commission were made aware of this fact. There was and has been no formal or public response to this important result—changing to non-chemical farming, ALL the symptoms disappeared. The 30 acres is now one of our state's premier urban non-chemical farms feeding a neighborhood.
I bring this list and action forward because I am concerned with agricultural chemicals flowing down our rivers, streams, and creeks into the ocean. The presentation by our county agricultural staff was silent on this issue. Note that for many years the neighborhood was exposed to pesticide drift despite the close oversight of both county and, on occasion, state agricultural officials. Even though serious attention lasted for a number of years, the illnesses continued. Please consider:
• Pesticide drift has been known to exceed beyond a quarter mile.
• What oversight occurs in rural agricultural fields near waterbodies?
• How much direct drift lands on water arteries flowing into the ocean?
• Pesticides can evaporate into the air up to 24 or more hours after their application.
The next item of the agenda was a presentation from a staff member of the Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board. His was a two-part presentation outlining the impacts of agricultural chemicals polluting 1) wells for drinking water and 2) river, stream and creek runoff into the ocean. He pointed out that the primary chemical polluting the wells are nitrates from agriculture chemical fertilizers. Because this article and my comments focus on agricultural runoff into the ocean, for readers wanting a detailed article on the well water problem, go to the February issue of the local Sierra Club publication, The Santa Lucian.
The second part of the presentation was a broad summary of the Central Coast region's rivers, streams and creeks. They contain the most toxic runoff into the ocean compared to all the other regions in California, even more toxic than runoff from major urban areas. The worst source is the Salinas River followed by the Santa Maria watershed—which includes Oso Flaco Lake—perhaps the most toxic coastal lake in the state. This lake empties into the ocean. The source of the toxins pointed to were pesticides and other agricultural chemicals. The ocean current near shore runs north and thus the recreation areas of the northern portion of San Luis Bay, ie., Oceano, Pismo, and Avila, are at risk.
I pointed out during the public comment period (including a discussion between with the Water Board staff person) that within a liquid unit of pesticide, between two and six per cent of the volume is the actual pesticide. The remaining volume is a mix of what are called inert ingredients that can be more toxic than the pesticide. No one other than the manufacturer has access to these chemical and heavy metal lists because they are patented, a trade secret.
I also pointed out that when pesticides are used on agricultural lands, they are generally applied in groups of four to five different pesticides, fungicides, or herbicides within the same batch. The synergistic effect has never been studied nor tested. No studies have been done as to how or if these chemicals and chemical fertilizers mix together as they break down and recombine on agricultural fields and in runoff into the rivers, streams and creeks flowing into the estuaries or "closed" bays or ocean. In my humble opinion, I think we all should consider commercial agricultural land as "industrial agricultural chemicalized flooring," not soil nor even dirt. Some crops require all life forms eliminated before the planting of the plant plugs (starts).
Our state waters are tested for nitrates, DDT, and 12 or more dangerous chemicals known to be flowing into the ocean. However, without tremendous expense and effort, it is not possible to uncover the vast number of chemicals and metals that create the toxic mix oozing and spilling off agricultural fields into waterways flowing into the ocean. One of the tests used to measure toxicity is placing bacteria, algae, and fish in water samples and then watch them die.
For me, the prime example of a disconnect between county and state agencies is what took place in this meeting regarding the differences in the two agenda presentations of facts and damage to the environment. There was only one comment from a Health Commission Board member regarding the threat of pollution. That was a statement that nitrate pollution of water wells could be eliminated by switching to organic methods. Of course, by implication, this would also solve the other agricultural chemical pollution. Not one board member questioned the present staff members of SLOC Agricultural Commission about the toxic agriculture chemicals present in runoff into the ocean.
During public comment, I also pointed out that locally, children play in river, stream, and creek estuaries, and thus are at risk. In particular, the risky locations are at Avila, Pismo, and Oceano where the creek estuary waters are warmer than the ocean and not exposed to wave action. These places of play are where the youngest are assumed safest by their parents. Children and the aged are the two groups most vulnerable to these toxins.
It was disappointing to observe that Health Commission Board members did not question County Agricultural Commission staff members as to why they failed to mention the severity of agricultural chemicals from our county finding their way into the ocean, especially into Oso Flaco Lake and into the Santa Maria River.
In my opinion, what we continue to witness with agricultural pollution is an indifference to short and long term exposures and runoff by a self-named industry, agriculture industry that constantly stiff-arms regulatory oversight in the name of producing inexpensive food. They never discuss the hidden costs of toxic pollution and soil damage that in some cases lasts generations. This is a section of the economy that is allowed to operate under late 19th Century and early 20th Century labor and regulatory laws. If a brick and mortar industry polluted the air and water in a likewise manner, the fines would be heavy, levied immediately, and regulators would insure the pollution would cease.
An example of a pesticide drift exposure occurred to residents of Lompoc years ago. Lompoc's primary agricultural crop—and for which the city was famous at one time—was flowers. The growers changed to more profitable vegetable crops requiring extensive chemical applications. At the same time, residents were complaining about another source of respiratory problems and illness, the diatomaceous soil plant. The plant eventually was shut down by the corporate owners rather than upgrade to required air quality standards. The agricultural fields remain with no change in practices.
The agricultural business / industry owner and management population are mostly made up of individuals whose political philosophy calls for individual responsibility for one's actions. Yet, when called upon to take full responsibility for the export of toxic chemicals causing health problems for humans and wildlife, all the excuses of non-compliance come to the forefront evoking no responsibility. Or, if a problem is admitted, lawsuits come forth or are threatened to delay compliance as long as possible. This is the status at the moment as the agricultural industry faces off against the Water Board's new regulations to contain toxic agricultural chemicals polluting drinking water wells, rivers, streams, and creeks. Even though the Water Board's original regulations have already been watered down (pun intended; if only this was fun and games), the feared outcome of the hearings on March 17th in Watsonville is continued unregulated toxic exposure to human and marine life.
I must end with a pessimistic observation regarding the disconnect between the Water Board and our SLOC Health Department. The Water Board asked our health department to post a sign at Oso Flaco Lake not to eat the fish due to the extreme amount of toxins in the lake. The health department refused, and because of the significant health risk to the public, the Water Board posted a warning sign. The Water Board has been trying without success to get various county health departments in its region to expand water testing to toxins other than fecal-caused bacterias with no success. Thus, parents will remain unaware as to the dangers exposed to their children in our rivers, streams, and creeks at the points of entry into the ocean. Others playing, swimming, or surfing in the ocean also will have no idea about the toxin exposure. And, ocean life itself will continue to be at risk while humans, unwilling to take individual responsibility, continue to pollute their habitat.
The Water Board website posts current reports on each water body flowing into the ocean. (See the Central Coast Ambient Monitoring Program (CCAMP), the Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board's regionally scaled water quality monitoring and assessment program.)
Marine Sanctuary designation would provide the communities of San Luis Obispo County with coordinated educational efforts to learn how to reduce, re-use, and recycle water to save money and protect our local coastal waters from pollution flowing into the ocean ecosystems. We can have more freshwater, cleaner oceans and beaches, and less flooding by implementing better freshwater and wastewater management.
