(US) EPA considering expanding the use of potent bird-killing pesticide!

[Snugglezzz at aol.com]

EPA CONSIDERING EXPANDING THE USE
OF POTENT BIRD-KILLING PESTICIDE!
Public Has Until June 12th To Weigh-In!

We need your help to ensure a deadly, bird-killing poison remains controlled, 
and its uses restricted! The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is 
considering - again - whether to expand the use of carbofuran - one of the world's 
most potent bird-killing pesticides! And they are accepting comments from the 
general public on this subject only until Thursday, June 12th! 

Cotton growers from Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas are seeking EPA approval to 
expand the use of flowable (or liquid) carbofuran - a controlled, highly 
toxic insecticide, in order to control cotton aphids - a slow-moving, soft-bodied, 
pear-shaped insect that feeds on and infests cotton plants. As there are a 
number of economical and effective non-chemical and non-harmful alternatives 
available to cotton growers to control aphid pests, there is simply no need for 
the EPA to approve an expanded use of such a potent bird-killing pesticide.  

Carbofuran has been responsible for more avian deaths than any other 
pesticide, and EPA has restricted and controlled its use for years. In 1989, the EPA 
estimated that 1 to 2 million birds were killed annually by carbofuran. If EPA 
were to expand its use of this potent bird-killing toxin, hundreds of bird 
species would be put at risk. Birds utilizing field edges near cotton fields, 
such as Blue Grosbeak, Painted Bunting, and Indigo Bunting, as well as birds that 
may utilize the fields themselves, such as the Horned Lark and Dickcissel, 
would be most at risk. If carbofuran were to contaminate water and flow away 
from the fields, a much greater variety of birds would be at risk, including 
wading birds and neotropical migrant shorebirds like the Buff-breasted Sandpiper 
and Short-billed Dowitcher. 

Audubon and our partner organizations are committed to stopping any further 
use of the bird-killer carbofuran - but we can't do it alone. We need your help 
- and we need it now, as the EPA will cut off this comment period on 
Thursday, June 12th! <A HREF="http://www.capitolconnect.com/audubon/summary.asp?subject=242">Click HERE now to send a letter to the EPA urging them to deny 
any request to allow the use of carbofuran in any of its formations! </A>
 
    


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