Government Warned Of Lawsuit Over Klamath Project Pesticides

        Subject: Government Warned Of Lawsuit Over Klamath Project Pesticides
            Date: Tue, 16 Jul 2002 09:07:04 -0400
           From:    Stephen Tvedten <steve@getipm.com>
Organization:    Get Set Inc. (www.getipm.com)

To: Paul Helliker <phelliker@cdpr.ca.gov>
Director, State of California, Department of Pesticide Regulation

GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) – Conservation and fishing groups have warned the government they intend to sue to force more careful use of pesticides that can harm endangered fish in Klamath Reclamation Project irrigation canals.

The groups on Monday filed a formal 60-day notice of intent to sue the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, claiming the agency has failed to obey mandates of the Endangered Species Act to consult with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service over the use of the aquatic herbicide acrolein and other chemicals.

Acrolein is used to kill aquatic weeds that slow down the flow of irrigation water through irrigation canals and is the subject of a court battle between environmentalists and irrigators.

Wendell Wood of the Oregon Natural Resources Council said terms and conditions of a 1996 biological opinion allowing the agency to use acrolein require closely monitoring how it is applied and how it is affecting fish in the canals.

Reclamation has failed for six years to send the required reports to Fish and Wildlife, and must now contact Fish and Wildlife to engage in formal consultation, Wood said.

Conservationists also fear acrolein may be leaking into canals serving farmlands inside the Tule Lake and Lower Klamath national wildlife refuges, where the chemical is not used, Wood added.

Bureau of Reclamation spokesman Jeff McCracken said the agency would review the documents pertaining to the notice and decide what its next step would be.

The Klamath, Tule Lake and Langell Valley irrigation districts all believe they are in compliance with the law, and are working to get state permits to use acrolein, said Dan Keppen, executive director of the Klamath Water Users Association.

The notice was filed by Oregon Natural Resources Council, the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations, the Northcoast Environmental Center, the Institute for Fisheries Resources and Sierra Club.

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