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Smith River Project provides timely and accurate content to all members of the media. Here in the Press Room you will find news clips, press releases, resource links, photo downloads, contact information and project briefs. Please keep checking back for updates.

If you don't find what you need here, please contact the Smith River Project office.

Contacts:
Greg King, Executive Director, Smith River Project 530-627-33779 (new number as of 12/10/02)
Britt Bailey, Senior Associate, Center for Ethics and Toxics 707-884-1700

Smith River Project Overview

In Brief
The goal of the Smith River Estuary Enhancement Program is to restore and protect the Smith River Estuary, as well as to enhance the health of and promote wholesome economic opportunities for local residents. The Smith River Project works with government agencies, environmental organizations and the public to achieve this goal.

The state and federally designated Wild and Scenic Smith River, California's only undamaged river, is a watershed of national importance owing to its status as the healthiest and wildest coastal watershed in the coterminous United States, and thus to its ability to recolonize endangered species in other, more impacted watersheds up and down the West Coast. Currently, our most pressing program involves protection of the Smith River Estuary, the most sensitive reach of the watershed.

The Smith River Project's Estuary Enhancement Program is the first and only effort of its kind to protect one of the most biologically intact yet imminently threatened coastal river estuaries in United States. The greatest threat to the Smith River Estuary takes the form of intensive application of more than 50 agricultural chemicals— many of them highly toxic and carcinogenic—onto 800-1,000 acres of lily bulb fields surrounding the mouth of the Smith River. These toxics not only impact the Smith River, but also affect the health of area residents.

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Press Releases

Pesticide Use in Del Norte County Increases Nearly 30% in 2001

Defying state trend, Del Norte County pesticide use jumps to record levels. Environmental and community health continue to be at risk in town of Smith River, where 90% of the county’s pesticide use occurs.

Graton, CA October 17, 2002 – Pesticide use in Del Norte County soared in 2001, defying a statewide trend that shows most counties reducing their reliance on toxic chemicals.

Statistics released this week by the California Department of Pesticide Regulation show that while statewide annual pesticide use dropped to its lowest level on record, the total amount used in Del Norte County increased by nearly 100,000 pounds. The impacts of heightened pesticide use are felt mostly on the Smith River Plain, in the northwestern corner of the county. Here, more than 90% of Del Norte County’s pesticide use occurs on lily bulb fields surrounding the mouth of the Smith River, California’s wildest and most pristine coastal watershed.

“It’s unfortunate that, in an era when farmers across the state are protecting their neighbors by reducing reliance on toxic pesticides, Smith River lily farmers are actually increasing such risk,” said Greg King, executive director of the Smith River Project. “There’s more than one way to grow a lily, and I think it’s time that bulb farmers begin exploring the many non-toxic options available to them.”

Last year Del Norte County ranked 37th in the state in total pounds of pesticides used, a jump from 40th the previous year. More importantly, the intensity of use for many pesticides is as high or higher in Del Norte than in most big agricultural counties. Extremely hazardous chemicals such as 1,3-Dichloropropene (1,3-D) and metam sodium, both probable cancer-causing pesticides, were applied in Del Norte County at rates nearing 300 pounds per acre. In Fresno County, where use of 1,3-D and metam sodium is considered high, rates for these pesticides were 134 and 49 pounds per acre, respectively. Likewise, in Imperial County the rate of 1,3-D application averaged 93 pounds per acre, while metam sodium was applied at 161 pounds per acre.

“Last year 300,000 pounds of dozens of pesticides were applied on 1,000 acres of lily fields that surround homes and even Smith River Elementary School, making many families nervous,” said Georgiana Hale, Program Coordinator for the Smith River Project. “High application rates also mean more toxins are building up in a small, sensitive environment that is home to California’s healthiest anadromous fish populations and many other Endangered species.”

The majority of pesticides used in Smith River are fumigants designed to attack nematodes, which damage the lily bulbs. Fungicides, herbicides and other forms of pesticides are also used. Use of Methyl Bromide, a notorious ozone-depleting chemical being phased out nationally by 2005, fell in Smith River from 58,805 pounds to 24,583 pounds. However, use of methyl bromide’s replacement fumigants, 1,3-D and metam sodium, more than doubled from a combined 117,598 pounds in 2000 to 242,494 pounds in 2001. Both chemicals are classified by the Environmental Protection Agency as probable human carcinogens and are highly toxic to aquatic organisms. Several other “bad actor” chemicals, including Disulfoton and Chlorothalonil, were also used in greater amounts in 2001 (see chart below).

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 Significant' Groundwater Contamination Found in Smith River (Testing Results Details)

Agricultural Carcinogen 1,2-D Found in Four Wells After Contentious Free Water Testing Day at Mouth of California's Cleanest River

Two Wells Register at or Above the Federal 'Maximum Contaminant Level'
Despite Depths of More Than 100 Feet

Graton, CA June 24, 2002 - Four wells tested this month by the Smith River Project have turned up surprising levels of 1,2-Dichloroprane, a carcinogenic pesticide formerly used in lily production but banned in the Smith River area nearly 20 years ago.

Recent findings bring the number of 1,2-D contaminated wells identified by the Smith River Project to a total of seven. The North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board (RWQCB) has agreed to conduct further testing to verify these findings in the next two weeks.

High Contamination in Deep Wells
Perhaps most surprising about this month's water tests was that 1,2-D was found at significant levels in four deep wells (between 110 and 120 feet each). The federal government's "maximum contaminant level" for 1,2-D is 5 parts per billion (ppb), and the 'public health goal' is ten times less, or 0.5 ppb. Of the four wells recently found tainted, one registered 5 ppb of 1,2-D, another 5.6 ppb and a third came in at 4.5 ppb. The fourth well tested at 1 ppb. The U.S. EPA has determined that potential health effects of 1,2-D exposure include damage to the liver, kidneys, bladder, and gastrointestinal and respiratory tracts, and cancer.

"I'm sure the RWQCB will confirm our laboratory results and take action to see that public health is protected," said Mark Valentini, Ph.D., president of Analytical Sciences, Inc., in Petaluma. Analytical Sciences is a state-certified laboratory hired by the Smith River Project to test waters in and around the Smith River Estuary.

Residents Rally Against Free Water Testing
The recent water testing results punctuate a contentious 'Free Water Testing Day' sponsored and hosted by the Smith River Project June 15 in the small coastal town of Smith River, where more than 90 percent of U.S. lily bulbs are produced four miles south of the Oregon border. More than 100 people, including members of gun clubs and property-rights groups, attended a rally decrying the Smith River Project's Free Water Testing program. Several speakers accused the Smith River Project of acting as a "front" for U.S. corporations and the United Nations in an effort to forcefully relocate rural residents to urban areas and take over their land. One speaker claimed that the Free Water Testing program was akin to the September 11 attack on the World Trade Center.

"It was actually a positive experience, meeting these folks," said Greg King, executive director of the non-profit Smith River Project. "The Del Norte County economy is pretty bad, and people are afraid that we're threatening lily jobs. But we're actually trying to strengthen the local economy by exploring alternative means of growing lilies." The Smith River Project is working with Organic Bouquet, the biggest organic cut flower business in the U.S., to grow organic bulbs at premium prices in the Smith River area.

Nonetheless, said King, lily growers, Del Norte County and the state are responsible for creating and downplaying what in the 1980s turned out to be one of the worst cases of 1,2-D contamination in the U.S. Such contamination may point to even greater risks from current use of pesticides in lily fields surrounding the Smith River Estuary.

"These findings are significant in their own right, and they may be important in terms of analyzing what, if any, impacts that several highly toxic pesticides currently used in the Smith River Plain may have on humans and wildlife," said Britt Bailey, a senior associate with the Center for Ethics and Toxics (CETOS) in Gualala, California. CETOS is assessing potential risks posed to people and wildlife by past and current pesticide use in Smith River.

More Comprehensive Testing on the Way
The two rounds of water testing conducted by the Smith River Project during the past six months mark the beginning of a comprehensive monitoring program to determine potential levels of contamination posed by current use of pesticides. These chemicals include 1,3-D, methyl bromide, chloropicrin, metam sodium, chlorothalonil, carbofuran, diuron, disulfoton and pentachloronitrobenzene (pcnb). High use of a few of these "bad actor" chemicals has led to Del Norte County being ranked among the top per-acre pesticide using counties in California, despite the Smith River's status as California's healthiest anadromous fishery and one of the world's cleanest rivers.

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Free Water Testing at Smith River to Assess Groundwater Contamination

Agricultural Chemicals - Used to Grow 90% of U.S. Lily Bulbs - Foul Water and Endangered Species Habitat at Mouth of California's Cleanest, Wildest River

County and State Allow Residents to Consume Polluted Water for Two Decades

Graton, CA June 10, 2002 - An independent mobile water testing lab will analyze well water samples Saturday, June 15 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the public boat launch in the town of Smith River, Del Norte County, to determine the extent of water contamination at the mouth of one of the world's cleanest rivers and California's healthiest salmon stream.

Tainted Wells
A two-year study by the Smith River Project has uncovered potentially widespread contamination of domestic wells surrounding the Smith River estuary, in the far northwestern corner of California. Contamination by the agricultural carcinogen 1,2-Dichloropropane (1,2-D) was first discovered at dangerously high levels in 1982 by the California Northcoast Regional Water Quality Control Board (RWQCB). Yet the Water Board and the Del Norte County Health Department failed to notify local residents of the problem, leaving dozens of families to unwittingly consume hazardous water for the past two decades.

1,2-D can damage the liver, kidneys, bladder, gastrointestinal tract and the respiratory tract. It can cause dermatitis and cancer, including leukemia.

Last December the Smith River Project tested three domestic wells, all of which contained unhealthy levels of 1,2-D. One tainted well belongs to a family who bought their land in 1989, three years after the RWQCB issued a report revealing 1,2-D contamination in Smith River. Two of the highest testing wells - 160 parts per billion (ppb) and 85 ppb of 1,2-D - were adjacent to the land eventually purchased by the family and constituted some of the worst 1,2-D contamination in the United States. Nonetheless, Del Norte County issued the family a permit to reopen an existing well on the property without warning them of the likely contamination. The federal government's "maximum contamination level" for 1,2-D is 5 ppb, above which the county and state are mandated to protect residents. No such protection - or even notification - occurred. The family is surrounded by lily fields.

Salmon at Risk
Contamination by 1,2-D points to an even greater pollution risk posed by current chemical use at the mouth of the federally protected Wild and Scenic Smith River. The Smith is California's only undammed river, and it's the cleanest and wildest coastal river in the 48 United States. Not surprisingly, the Smith River is home to California's healthiest populations of federally listed Endangered salmon and steelhead, among other species.

Research by the Center for Ethics and Toxic (CETOS) for the Smith River Project shows that, of just five chemicals used by lily growers and examined by CETOS, four are applied in quantities that exceed the U.S. EPA's Level of Concern for Endangered aquatic species. In addition, per-acre use of several dangerous chemicals in Smith River are as high as or higher than their use in the most productive agricultural counties in California. (For more information and photos see: www.smithriverproject.org/estuary.shtml.)

"It's like building an oil refinery in Yosemite Valley," said Greg King, founder and executive director of the Smith River Project. "Clearly there's a significant risk to wildlife and human health at the mouth of the Smith River. We're not against lilies, but they shouldn't be grown at the expense of children and the estuary of one of the world's most biologically important rivers. The county, state and federal governments have turned their backs on this small human population and hugely important watershed, resulting in the avoidable poisoning of potentially hundreds of people and the estuary of California's last great wild river. We could do better."

The Smith River Project is a non-profit organization that heads up a coalition recently formed to protect the Smith River Estuary. Three of these groups - the Environmental Protection Information Center, Californians for Alternatives to Toxics and the Humboldt Watershed Council - last month won a court victory against U.S. EPA for the agency's failure to protect salmon from pesticides.

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Water Testing Program: Ad Campaign, 6-8-02

The Smith River Project kicked off an ad campaign this week to offer free water testing for toxics to anyone living in the town of Smith River. This free water testing program is available for domestic and agricultural WELL WATER ONLY in the Smith River area north of Moseley Road. The testing program is available to renters and homeowners alike.

The ad will be published in the Triplicate in mid June. Visit our Testing Program page or view a copy of the ad in acrobat/pdf format (1.4 MB) for more detailed information. (RequiresAdobe Acrobat Reader).

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Most Newsworthy

Research by the Smith River Project has uncovered widespread contamination of domestic wells by the agricultural chemical 1,2-Dichloropropane (1,2-D), a cancer-causing agent, in the small town of Smith River. Most shocking about the finding is that the state and local governments conducted water testing during the 1980s, found tragically high levels of the carcinogen in wells, then, citing "budget cuts," abandoned the area with minimal community outreach and no cleanup efforts.

See Estuary Enhancement Program for background, or our Testing Program or groundwater contamination alert pages for complete details. We have also developed a complete list of chemicals found in the Smith River estuary.

Press Photos for Download

The links below each picture will allow you to download high resolution photos in .tif format. They are available for use by media professionals and nonprofit organizations who are writing about the Smith River Project. Any other use—including derivative works or web publication—require express permission from our organization. Please contact The Smith River Project to inform us of your use for print or to request other uses.

All photos © Greg King, 2002, except where noted.

Smith River Project
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