KENNEWICK, WA - The National Marine Fisheries Service has recommended new restrictions on three commonly used pesticides in the Northwest. That has some farmers worried. Correspondent Anna King spoke with farmers at a vegetable growers’ convention in Kennewick, Washington yesterday.

The fisheries service says the federal government should require pesticide buffer zones around rivers and streams in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and California. The federal agency wants to protect salmon from three common pesticides. Alan Schreiber is an Eastern Washington farmer and the head of a Washington State pesticide registration commission. I’ll let him pronounce the three chemicals in question.

Schreiber: "Chlorpyrifos, Malathion, and the other one is Diazinon."

At this vegetable grower conference, not many people are worried about restrictions on Malathion and Diazinon – they’re not used much anymore. But it turns out Chlorphyrifos is one of the most commonly used pesticides in the world. It kills bugs on everything from Seattle and Portland lawns to Eastern Washington asparagus fields. Again, Alan Schreiber.

Schreiber: "Particularly in some of the minor crops, some of the vegetable seed crops. We do not have alternatives for Chlorpyrifos. Or if we do they might be less effective or more expensive."

Schreiber says it takes a lot of money to develop and approve new chemicals, and private companies usually focus on the biggest crops where they will make the most money. A guy who sells the chemical to farmers is less concerned. James Zahand, says the new regs probably won’t hurt his customers that much.

Zahand: "Think of where the vast majority of this product is used. It’s used in dryland areas where we don’t have streams."

Environmentalists say there are newer, safer chemicals for farmers to use and the new restrictions will protect salmon and children. The Environmental Protection Agency has about a year to develop the final rules for the restricted chemicals.

Copyright 2008 Northwest Public Radio

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