Pesticide Becomes Florida Community's Pest

By: Duane Craig

As DeLand, Fla. recently learned, there is no escaping the consequences of trying to control the environment, and the living things within it. Comfortable residents, some with golf course views and many with country club memberships in the Country Club Estates community now know one of the true costs of striving for a bug-free environment.

The pesticide, dieldrin, has been found in nearly 50 percent of the wells tested, driving 118 homeowners to ask to be connected to city water. Meanwhile, 80 homes are in the process of being connected, and the property values in the community have dropped 50 percent, according to this report.

The pesticide is widely used to control termites and other pests at the residences, is used at the nearby golf course and was stored and mixed at a pest control business at U.S. 17-92 and Orange Camp Road. To be on the safe side, residents have been encouraged to have wells tested regularly, garden in above-ground containers, use masks for mowing lawns that have sandy spots, and limit children playing in the yards.

Two canals in Michigan are dangerously contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, according to this advisory. The seriousness of the contamination was underscored by the Michigan Department of Health when it wrote in the advisory that the PCB levels were 2,000 times higher than those typically seen in fish taken from Lake St. Clair. The advisories cover the bottom feeders -- carp and catfish. That’s because they feed closest to the contaminated sediments and have high concentrations of body fat to store the PCBs. The canals affected are the Lange and Revere off Lake St. Clair. Residents who live along the canals are concerned about how long it’s taking to find the source of the contamination. The Environmental Protection Agency has been sampling and cleaning up problem areas for years but hasn’t been able to determine just where the contamination originated. PCBs have been linked to cancer and are a persistent pollutant, meaning they accumulate in the environment and in the tissues of living things.

Water well contamination in Stamford, Conn., is raising the specter that there may be extensive contamination of wells throughout the state, according to this article. Private water well testing in the city has revealed 31 percent of those tested are contaminated with chlordane and dieldrin, two pesticides banned a long time ago.

A representative of the state’s department of health said her department thinks the problem is more widespread than just Stamford. Other communities, however, are not responding to calls for testing within their jurisdictions. Some believe that’s because of funding issues and the effect on property values if the pollution is found.

Of the 628 wells tested in Stamford, 195 had levels of the pesticides, and 108 exceeded the action levels established by the state. There are another 5,000 private wells in Stamford, and that is raising concerns about how many people are potentially being exposed to the chemicals over long periods of time.

Chlordane and dieldrin were usually used to control insect pests on crops and to control termites. People are exposed to the chemicals when they drink or bathe in water containing them. People can install whole house water filters to take care of the problem. Health officials point out that the levels of the pesticides can fluctuate, so unless regular sampling is taking place, it’s not possible to know just how much exposure people are getting.

Arsenic, Pesticides Found at Phipps Ocean Park, FL

August 10, 2010 - Arsenic and pesticides have been found in two areas at Phipps Ocean Park, and the cost to remove it could range from $500,000 to $600,000, Public Works Director Paul Brazil told the Town Council Tuesday.

More areas may need decontamination as well, he said.

"It isn’t the Love Canal, but we have a contamination issue that we need to deal with," Brazil said. "We don't know the extent of it right now."

He said high concentrations of arsenic and dieldrin, a chlorinated pesticide, were discovered in soil and groundwater samples taken during the removal of a diesel fuel tank and underground waste-oil storage tanks at the town's waste-water pump station at Phipps.

The fuel tank, used to operate an emergency generator, and the storage tanks were replaced as part of an improvement project.

A contractor placed temporary fencing around the main contaminated area — the grounds immediately surrounding the pump station — after the contamination was detected, Brazil said.

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Lawyers: Hayes-Sammons Plant in Texas caused woman's cancer

October 27, 2009 - From 1950 to 1967, The Hayes-Sammons plant in Mission, Texas operated a pesticide mixing plant, combining dozens of industrial-grade chemicals into their own special brands of bug-killing elixir.

Guadalupe Garza grew up in the neighborhood, and became the first of nearly 1,600 former Hayes-Sammons employees and nearby residents to take her toxic exposure case before a jury. Specifically, she alleges that three chemical compounds used at the plant - DDT, dieldrin and toxaphene - built up in her body over time and triggered the cancer she developed later in life.

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Scofieldtown dump in Connecticut yields 'unintended consequences'

September 25, 2009 - The story of the old Scofieldtown dump is the story of environmentalism in America. It begins with generations of ignorance and neglect. It ends with health concerns and taxpayers funding a cleanup.

Stamford officials now are scrambling to install $2 million in waterlines to 60 homes with wells threatened by contamination from the landfill. The number of homes could rise as test results come in.

12 wells have tested positive for the carcinogens chlordane and dieldrin.


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