Methyl Bromide
Farm groups in California are asking Gov. Wilson to call a special legislative
session to prevent a threatened ban on the fumigant Methyl
Bromide next year.
The EPA plans to ban Methyl Bromide at the start of the next century because
the pesticide damages the ozone layer. The Birth Defect Act of 1984 requires
that manufacturers of 200 named chemicals submit studies on health effects to
the California Department of Pesticide Regulation.
The company that makes Methyl Bromide, Great Lakes, says it can't meet the deadline,
which was extended four years ago and now is set for March 1996. Jim Wells, director
of the state pesticide agency, admits the delay is partly because state and federal
officials couldn't agree on technical aspects of the study until last January, 1995.
SB808 by state Sen. Dick Monteith, R-Modesto, would extend the deadline again, but the
bill failed to get out of the health committee before the 1995 session ended.
Unless the bill takes effect immediately after passage, manufacturers or distributors
couldn't sell any new supplies in California. Farmers could continue using Methyl Bromide
already on hand or available in stores.
Methyl Bromide sanitizes soil by killing root-damaging nematodes before such annual
crops as strawberries are planted or when orchard and vineyards are replanted.
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