Great Lakes Binational Toxics Strategy

IMPLEMENTING THE BINATIONAL TOXICS STRATEGY
Implementation

Stakeholders Forum
November 16-17, 1998 - Chicago, Illinois

Pesticide Workgroup Meeting Minutes
Outreach

Workgroup Leaders:
David Macarus – USEPA Region V
Guy Gilron – Environment Canada, Ontario Region

Facilitator:
Lisa Lefkovitz, Battelle

The afternoon session opened with David Macarus reviewing the U.S. and Canadian challenges and introducing the Level I pesticides. Workgroup participants then introduced themselves and indicated their interest in the pesticide session. Participants included Canadian and U.S. Federal agency personnel, agrochemical and forest/paper industry representatives, and non-governmental organizations. Workgroup leaders provided updates on activities since the last meeting related to Steps 1 and 2 of the "4-Step Process" outlined in the Strategy. 

Guy Gilron reviewed the Canadian Challenge and provided the following updates on Canada’s status.

• Current Status - The level I pesticides are listed as Tier I substances under the Canada-Ontario Agreement (COA) for virtual elimination (Objective 2.1).
• Regulatory Status - Priority pesticides and end-use products for aldrin/dieldrin, chlordane, DDT and toxaphene are de-registered according to the Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) database records. These pesticides, along with mirex, have also been struck from the legal list of pesticides which can be used in Ontario. Under Canada’s Toxic Substance Management Policy (TSMP), through efforts in support of virtual elimination of persistent organic pollutants, these pesticides have been deemed "No longer registered for use in Canada."
• Commercial Use Status - Based on a comprehensive review conducted as part of COA, evidence suggests zero use and stock availability within Ontario’s commercial sectors of the Level I pesticides (Report: COA Objective 2.1: Priority Pesticides - Confirmation of No Production, Use or Import in the Commercial Sector in Ontario. Available upon request from EC).
• Remaining Stocks - Some level I pesticide products have been turned in as household hazardous wastes at regional/municipal household hazardous waste depots. These depots will continue to collect these substances.
• Environmental Fate - Current use and release abroad and subsequent atmospheric transport is the primary source of Level I pesticides to Canada. Environment Canada is currently reviewing data being collected by the Canadian wildlife Service (concentrations in Herring Gull eggs) and the IADN program (atmospheric deposition) in order to understand the environmental fate of these substances resulting from historical use. Overall, concentrations measured in 1997 appear to be substantially lower than concentrations measured in 1982 for mirex, DDT, dieldrin and oxy-chlordane (Toxaphene is not measured and is not expected to accumulate in the eggs).

Lisa Lefkovitz provided a review of the technical report being prepared to address the domestic use and environmental fate of the Pesticides as they relate to the U.S. Challenge. The report is scheduled to be released for public comment through the Federal Register by the end of 1998.

The following are the highlights of the presentation:

• Current Status - The level I pesticides are all listed on the EPA’s Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP) "List of Pesticides banned and Severely Restricted in the United States".
• Regulatory Status - Registered pesticide uses for all of the Level I compounds were canceled between 1969 and 1988.
• Commercial Use Status - Based on the regulatory status of the Level I compounds, none are currently approved for use in the U.S. A current (1996) review of the U.S. Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) showed release to the environment of Chlordane (~450 kg) which was the last remaining Level I pesticide to be produced in the U.S. (production was voluntarily stopped in 1997). None of the Level I pesticides are currently being produced in the United States. [ Suzanne Fortin of Health Canada participated in recent POPs negotiations and said there was some debate regarding possible DDT production in the U.S.]
• Environmental Fate - A significant amount of data on the environmental presence of the Level I pesticides was accumulated and reviewed as part of the U.S. Pesticide Report. Level I pesticides were detected in all environmental matrices (atmosphere, surface water, soil, sediment and biota). The overall trends in most environmental compartments over most of the Great Lakes Basin indicate a significant decline in the last decade. A few exceptions to these trends were presented and included:
  • Dieldrin concentrations in two sediment cores from Lake Michigan did not show the decline in recent years in concentrations relative to the other Level I pesticides measured in the same cores.
  • Current dieldrin concentrations in the water column were the highest of any of the Level I compounds in all Lakes;
  • Concentrations of some of the Level I compounds were not declining as rapidly as expected in some species of fish, especially in Lake Superior;
  • Toxaphene concentrations in the Great Lakes were higher than toxaphene concentrations measured in many other large bodies of water in other parts of the country and the world.
  • Exceptionally high atmospheric concentrations of DDT have been measured over South Haven, Michigan; Dicofol use patterns as reported by USGS indicated high use in Southwestern Michigan. As this anomaly is presently being studied by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, the dicofol question will be brought to their attention. The Michigan Department of Agriculture (MDA) will also be advised as MDA manages the pesticide programs under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act.

Remaining Stocks - Margaret Jones of U.S. EPA Region 5 Pesticides Program Section presented an overview of the waste pesticide collections for Region 5 and the U.S. side of the Great Lakes basin. Significant amounts of all level I pesticide products (except mirex) have been turned in at State-run "Clean Sweep Programs" in all of the States in the Great Lakes Basin. A total of ~38,000 kg of the Level I pesticides have been collected from the eight states bordering the Great Lakes since 1990. These programs are on-going and data are currently being collected to assess trends and to improve collection effectiveness and access. David Macarus presented a comparison of estimated Lake burdens of the Level I pesticides compared to the amounts of pesticides collected in Clean Sweeps, which illustrated the significance of the collection amounts.  

Action Items & Next Steps

To address Step’s 3 and 4 of the "4-Step Process" of the BNS, the workgroup came up with some recommendations for activities to achieve further reductions:

• Encourage the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) along with the Ontario Ministry of Environment and Energy (MOEE) to conduct another agricultural waste collection program. The last collection was in 1991-92. In addition, Environment Canada has committed to coordinating more frequent and focused collections.
• Continue to monitor U.S. "Waste Pesticide Collection" activities.
• Investigate the potential impacts of a recent Federal ruling (HM-200) that governs the transport of hazardous agricultural products on Clean Sweep collections
• Investigate the extent and impact of Dicofol use on environmental loading of DDT.
• Confirm that there is no current DDT production in the U.S.
• Provide a list of recommendations to the BNS Integration Group including a summary of existing stocks and exceptions to trends of the Level I pesticides in the environment; Confirm that any environmental and human health impacts from sediment cycling and global transport are considered.
• Level II Pesticides - prior to April 1999 Stakeholder’s meeting, both the U.S. and Canada will conduct review of laws and policies and current reduction activities related to the Level II pesticides.

Communication

The draft of the U.S. Pesticide report will be distributed to all workgroup members by the end of the year.  

Rich Greenwood of the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) committed to providing a USFWS person as a permanent workgroup member to address issues related to fish and wildlife.

A conference call has been scheduled for Tuesday, January 19^th to discuss the following:

• Review and comment on the U.S. report;
• complete the list of recommendations for the Integration Group;
• discuss status of Level II pesticides and any actions related to Level II’s that need to be taken for the April Stakeholder’s meeting;
• discuss any other issues that need to be addressed related to the April meeting.

David and Guy will ensure that current and past workgroup participants receive a copy of the U.S. report and are notified of the time and phone number to participate in the January conference call. 

Pesticide Workgroup - November 16, 1998
List of Workgroup Participants