By COOKSON BEECHER Capital Press Staff Writer, The Capital Press , 11/20/98
Fertilizer update
Nov. 30. The state's Department of Ecology will be releasing a study focusing on levels of metals in the soils in this state, as well as levels of metals and dioxin in fertilizers. Agricultural and non-agricultural plots were sampled on both sides of the state. In the Columbia Basin, for example, soil samples were taken from sites that had been farmed for decades and other sites that had never been farmed in order to discover if there are differences in the concentration of heavy metals. The study was done as part of the state's fertilizer reform.
Dec. 4. House Agriculture & Ecology Committee work session and public hearing on implementation of the new fertilizer legislation, 8 a.m., John L. O'Brien Building, Olympia.
Dec. 18. Fertilizer Advisory Group meeting, 12:30 p.m., General Administration Auditorium, Olympia. The public is invited. For more information, call 360-902-0639.
Although Washington state leads the nation in fertilizer reform, the majority of people who participated in last week's public hearings hosted by the Agriculture Department said they don't believe the state has gone far enough.
As part of that concern, they asked that more information be supplied on fertilizer labels so that consumers can know if there are heavy metals or dioxins in the products they plan to use on their gardens, lawns and farms.
The meetings were held in various locations on both side of the state, and those who couldn't attend were able to speak with department representatives via video conference.
During the Seattle meeting, Erika Schreder of the Washington Toxics Coalition brought along a bag of Ironite to drive home her point that the state's new legislation isn't working.
She told department representatives that even though the Health Department had issued an advisory for Ironite in May due to its extremely high levels of arsenic, she was able to buy the product at the Home Depot that morning.
"What good is a law that can't even stop the sale of a product that contains arsenic at 500 times the state standard and fails the test for hazardous waste?" she asked.
Along with other participants at the public hearing, Schreder criticized the department for failing to require fertilizer manufacturers to list the contents of their products on their labels.
Before the new legislation was adopted last year, fertilizer labels only had to describe the amounts of nitrogen, potassium and phosphorous in the product. There was no requirement that information about tag-along heavy metals or dioxins, which might also be in the fertilizer as a result of the addition of waste byproducts, be included on the label.
But under the emergency rules adopted last year by the Agriculture Department, labels must now also state that the product has been registered with the department, and that when applied as directed, it meets the state's standards for nine heavy metals - among them lead, arsenic, cadmium, cobalt, mercury, and zinc.
State standards for these heavy metals are now based on the Canadian standards for fertilizers.
Labels on fertlizer products must also inform consumers that they have the right to receive specific information about Washington's standards from the distributor of the product.
But many people at the public hearings said requirements like that don't really inform the consumer.
"Labeling must be meaningful to the people reading the label," said Bonnie Rice, a Whatcom County farmer. "The actual concentrations of metals and other toxic compounds . . . must be spelled out on the label. A label that says the product meets the Washington standards does not tell me, as a farmer, anything."
Jon Stier, an attorney for The Washington Public Interest Research Group, echoed that concern. "We have the right to know if even a teaspoon of hazardous waste is going on the land we own," he said.
Departing from the opinions expressed by most of the people during the hearings, Far West Fertilizer and AgriChemical Association offered testimony at one of the hearings in Eastern Washington in support of the rules as they were written and developed.
"Unless some emergency need arises, now is not the time to implement any further changes or adjustments in the law," warned the fertilizer representative. "Allow it to work and then analyze if there is further refinement necessary."
Although the labeling requirements the department is proposing do conform with the minimum requirements of the new legislation, department official Bob Arrington said the department does have the option of going further than that - an option many of those attending the hearings would endorse.
"We heard that loud and clear," he said.
Comments made during the hearings and written comments submitted to the department will be reviewed by department director Jim Jesernig, who is expected to make a decision on the proposed rules Dec. 10. If he decides the emergency rules should be revised, additional public hearings will be held.
Carol Jolly, executive policy advisor on agriculture to the governor, said the public hearings proved to be helpful in gaining additional information and insights.
Referring to the continued sale of Ironite and several other products that don't meet the state's new standards, she said it has become clear that some administrative procedures have to be finetuned.
"We're looking for a way to establish more control over that," she said.
She also described the state's newly adopted fertilizer legislation as a work in progress.
"We're learning by doing," she said. "We want a lot of points of view.
While we don't want it to be an unreasonable burden on the industry, we do want the legislation to be able to safeguard public health."
Meanwhile state agency officials have indicated they may tackle the fact that the new legislation doesn't address the issue of dioxins in fertilizer by amending the law. And Gov. Gary Locke's Office has also indicated that additional amendments may be introduced to the legislation.