By Cookson Beecher, Capital Press Staff Writer,The Capital Press , 2/6/1998
LYNDEN, Wash. - Whatcom County raspberry growers are caught in a media nightmare - one that has them concerned that emotions about pesticides, not science, will prevail.
Triggering a three-part series in The Bellingham Herald, which began on the front page of the Sunday edition, is the county's decision not to grant permission to the U.S. Geologicalal Survey to test county-owned land for a federal water quality study. The study seeks to determine the effects of raspberry farming on drinking water.
The Geological Survey had planned to use 16 sites on county rights-of-way to drill wells. Instead, it is using seven private wells in undisclosed locations - fewer than one-half the number of the sites originally sought. A group of raspberry growers and county Extension Agent Craig MacConnell urged County Executive Pete Kremen not to let the Geological Survey use county land based on the conviction that the study unfairly focuses on raspberries. They also feared the press would mischaracterize the findings of the study and put the industry at risk.
"We felt there was the potential for erroneous information," said Brian Cieslar, spokesman and agronomist for Maberry Enfield Maberry Berry Associates, the county's biggest berry producers. "We were concerned it would become an emotional issue and all science would be lost." Cieslar said the recent front-page publicity about the water study proves just how accurate that prediction was.
"Now here we are," he said. "We have people talking about leukemia in children. The newspaper is making it sound like it's pesticides that are the cause. But it's up to the health professionals to find out the cause, not the non-medical public." Health officials recently discovered a statistically high number of children who either died from or have leukemia in the northern part of the county. In response, they will begin a study this month to try to determine why.
A part of this study will focus on drinking water. Unsafe pesticides, including ethyl bromide (EDB), have been detected in some wells in farming areas, but no studies have linked those pesticides to cancer cases in the county.
EDB, which was used to control root worms, was banned in 1983. Geological Survey official Jim Ebbert, chief of the Puget Sound Region's National Water Quality Assessment Program, said the Whatcom study, which began last August, is one of about 40 similar agricultural studies nationwide that focus on a dominant crop in an area. Whatcom County was selected for this study because of the intensive farming and the shallow aquifer in the county.
"For these studies, we hone in on a major crop in an agricultural area," Ebbert explained.
The county, which has about 100 raspberry farms, leads the nation in production. As the county's largest cash crop, red raspberries are worth more than $30 million in a good year.
In this nationwide water study, testing is being done for approximately 80 pesticides, 50 volatile organic compounds and ions such as calcium potassium and sodium.
In Eastern Washington, three different studies are focusing on dryland small grains, row crops and orchards.
Other studies are focusing on such crops as soybeans in central Nebraska, grapes in the San Joaquin Valley of California, and corn on the Ozark Plateau of Arkansas and Missouri.
Whatcom County is the only place that has not allowed the federal agency to drill wells on public land.
Kremen said he relied on MacConnell when making his decision because MacConnell has 18 years of experience dealing with the county's raspberry industry.
"His concerns seemed valid, and they still do," said Kremen, referring to the fact the study doesn't include other agricultural entities. Cieslar agrees. "There's no allowance for previous land use before raspberries," he said. "We'll be blamed for things not used on our berries."
And though the Geological Survey can use satellite imaging and field studies to determine where the pesticides actually came from, Cieslar points out that the data the federal agency releases can be misinterpreted too easily.
"The Geological Survey said it wouldn't attempt to evaluate the data but that it would publish the results," said Cieslar. "This will bring in emotions, and the scientific basis of the study won't even be considered." Ebbert agrees that there is the risk that the data could be misinterpreted, primarily because it will take the agency at least a year to evaluate the results after they have been released to the public.
"We always evaluate the results," he said, "but there is that time period inbetween. We can add qualifying statements to the initial data, but emotions can get involved."
The initial results should be available in about one month. Ebbert said that once the results have been interpreted and evaluated by the agency, that information will be sent to the Whatcom County Health Department. He emphasized that the Geological Survey is not a regulatory agency.
As for fears about EDB's presence in groundwater, Ebbert said that in places where EDB had been used, concentrations have been declining due to dilution.
"My guess is the EDB problem is diminishing," he said. "In Eastern Washington, we went to areas where EDB had been detected, and we were surprised to find very low concentrations. It looks like it's slowly declining into background levels."
Back to top or back to home page or back to Whats New Jim Ebbert of the U.S. Geological Survey said funding is available to test about 10 shallow domestic wells in raspberry-growing areas of the county. In addition to meeting specific criteria, the wells must have a well log. More information can be obtained by calling Ebbert at 253-593-6530, ext. 234.
Back to top or back to home page or back to Whats New Health officials in Whatcom County are seeking information about county residents up to the age of 19 who have been diagnosed with leukemia since 1990.
To report a case, residents should call Public Health Nurse Janet Davis, County Health Department, 360-676-6720.
Davis can also provide information about how county residents in rural areas can have their wells tested.
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