Feds say 3 pesticides harmful to salmon

A draft federal evaluation has found that three more common pesticides used on home lawns and agricultural crops jeopardize the survival of West Coast salmon.

The evaluation from NOAA Fisheries Service is the latest resulting from lawsuits filed by conservation groups and salmon fishermen demanding the government enforce restrictions on pesticides near salmon streams. This one looked at the pre-emergent herbicides oryzalin, pendimenthalin and trifluralin.

NOAA Fisheries informed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency they are likely to jeopardize half the 26 salmon populations on the West Coast protected by the Endangered Species Act and suggested restrictions. Aimee Code of the Northwest Center for Alternatives to Pesticides says one delay after another has blocked imposition of restrictions on such chemicals since EPA started putting them forward in 2008.