Atrazine & my meeting with the Environmental Protection Agency
One of the goals of the Save The Frogs Day Rally in DC was to get the attention of the US EPA, who holds the power to ban Atrazine and whose mission it is to protect environmental and human health. In this regard (and every other I can think of!), the rally was a huge success. The EPA heard about the rally, and last Friday I gave a 50-minute presentation on amphibian conservation to 10 members of the EPA’s Pesticide Division in Arlington, VA. I spoke about the threats amphibians face, the importance of protecting amphibians and the problems with Atrazine. I showed pictures from the rally and also delivered our petition with the signatures of 10,012 SAVE THE FROGS! supporters calling for a federal ban on the use and production of Atrazine. I also delivered 16 pages of my favorite comments collected from the petition signatories.
Read my letter to the EPA here (official submission of the petition).
Read the petition comments here.
Though Atrazine did not get banned at the conclusion of our meeting, I was extremely pleased with the reception I received and feel confident that we are on the path towards a federal Atrazine ban: ten of the most important people in the EPA now know and care more about frogs than they did a week ago, and our petition to ban Atrazine will soon be submitted to the Federal Register along with an official call for comments period.
Unfortunately, the rules under which the EPA is forced to operate do not make it easy to ban an approved pesticide. The soonest it seems they would ban Atrazine is 2013 — when the official review period begins. In the meantime, they will be working to ensure that all the available science (6,000 studies) has been thoroughly reviewed so that the review period is completed as rapidly as possible. SAVE THE FROGS! will continue to raise awareness of the issue in order to gain widespread public support for a ban, and I will be sure to attend next year’s Scientific Advisory Panel hearings on the ecological effects of Atrazine. We will also begin working at the city, county and state level, and for this we will soon seek your assistance!
I want to thank everybody who signed the petition, and also thank the Center for Biological Diversity and the Natural Resources Defense Council, whose supporters sent over 70,000 letters to the EPA in recent weeks in support of a ban on Atrazine. The fight for an Atrazine-free USA is not over, but our voices have been heard!
May 8th, 2011 at 9:38 pm
Atrazine may have influence potentially the already vanishing amphibians in the Costa Rican rain forests. Where I have lived and seen them slowly vanish since 1952. When I used to see hundreds of frogs , toads, some lizaaqrds, all gone today.
Luis Saenz sr. a costa rican naturalist since 1952 to date.
May 8th, 2011 at 9:41 pm
Atrazine has been harmful to amphibians in Costa Rica , to the best of my knowledge. being a Costa Rican naturalist.
Luis Saenz
May 8th, 2011 at 9:42 pm
Please help ban the Atrazine
May 9th, 2011 at 6:52 am
Congratulations, Kerry, on your efforts to bring attention to the EPA officials in Washington, DC. It will be a struggle to battle the interests of the large chemical companies to ban any of their products but is fundamentally important that Atrazine and other environmental poisons be looked at for the harm they are doing to frogs and other native wildlife! Your efforts in circulating the petition and delivering it to the EPA officials is a wonderful beginning, and your efforts to link with the Center for Biological Diversity and the National Resources Defense Council will certainly help our interests in banning Atrazine. With gratitude from all of us Earth Citizens for Save The Frogs! and the organization’s efforts over the past three years. May the organization continue to grow in membership and in influence in the years to come.
May 9th, 2011 at 8:21 pm
Thank You so much for opening my eyes!!! I’ve been trying to help spread the word to as many folks as possible and also added a little frog pond to the herb garden.
May 19th, 2011 at 5:44 pm
I really think that it is awful that such a harmfull pestiside is used on our crops! I think that the EPA should ban Atrizine in the year 2013! I also can’t believe what syngeta put up about how Atrazine is safe for amphibians!