USGS Study Finds Widespread Presence of Toxic Pesticides & Herbicides In Pinelands Ponds and Wetlands
Significantly, greater numbers of pesticides and higher total pesticide concentrations were observed in stormwater basins than in natural and excavated ponds. Reference wetlands had fewer pesticides and lower total pesticide concentrations compared to degraded wetlands, indicating a positive relation between percent altered land and pesticides throughout the New Jersey Pinelands. ~~~ USGS Research Report (2018)
An important USGS study was just released that provides deeply disturbing data and findings regarding the presence and prevalence of toxic herbicides and pesticides in what should be considered the “pristine” NJ Pinelands.
I’m on the road and really don’t have the focus to read and analyze the full USGS study, but the abstract is disturbing regarding the presence and prevalence of toxic herbicides and pesticides.
The USGS research also suggests that current regulations and management requirements of the Pinelands Commission and NJ DEP regarding stormwater and wetlands are seriously flawed and that monitoring for the ecological impacts of toxics has not been robust.
Previous research in 2002 by NJ DEP found that created wetlands and mitigation do not perform the ecological functions of natural wetlands, so this is not the first science to suggest that regulatory policies must be strengthened.
Here is the USGS study abstract: (emphases mine)
A study conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the New Jersey Pinelands Commission and Montclair State University, was designed to compare pesticide concentrations and the presence and prevalence of amphibian pathogens between natural ponds and two types of created wetlands, excavated ponds and stormwater basins, throughout the New Jersey Pinelands. … Sites were selected on the basis of land-use classifications within a 500-meter radius around each wetland from a pool of natural ponds, excavated ponds, and stormwater basins determined by the New Jersey Pinelands Commission.
Here are the major findings:
The amount of altered land (percent agricultural plus percent developed) ranged from 0 to 62.4 percent for the natural ponds, 0 to 63.6 percent for the excavated ponds, and 23.3 to 80.2 percent for the stormwater basins. The herbicides atrazine and metolachlor were observed in 60 and 89 percent of the water samples, respectively. The insecticide bifenthrin was the most frequently detected current-use pesticide (greater than 25 percent of the samples) in bed-sediment, anuran-food, and composite larval-anuran-tissue samples. The legacy insecticide p,p’-DDT and its primary degradates p,p’-DDD and p,p’-DDE were the most frequently detected compounds in bed-sediment and anuran-food samples (32–76 percent in sediment samples and 24–72 percent in anuran-food samples).
Significantly, greater numbers of pesticides and higher total pesticide concentrations were observed in stormwater basins than in natural and excavated ponds. Reference wetlands had fewer pesticides and lower total pesticide concentrations compared to degraded wetlands, indicating a positive relation between percent altered land and pesticides throughout the New Jersey Pinelands. Ranavirus was observed in larvae from 4 wetlands, including 1 reference natural pond, 1 degraded natural pond, and 2 degraded stormwater basins, with prevalence ranging from 3 to 43 percent. Bd was detected in swabs from 18 animals and in 4 natural ponds (1 reference and 3 degraded), 3 excavated ponds (all reference), and 2 stormwater basins (1 reference and 1 degraded); however, detection probability was low. In the wetlands with Bd detections, between 10 and 30 percent (between 1 and 3) of the animal’s swabbed tested positive for Bd. Owing to the limited number of positive detections for both Bd and Ranavirus, no statistical comparisons between wetland types and land-use classifications were possible.
DEP has taken the position that regulated activities in the Pinelands are not subject to compliance with the DEP’s surface water quality standards.
Those SWQS standards have numeric limits for herbicides and pesticides, and include this prohibition: (see: NJAC 7:9B-1.5(a)4.)
Toxic substances in waters of the State shall not be at levels that are toxic to humans or the aquatic biota, or that bioaccumulate in the aquatic biota so as to render them unfit for human consumption.
That flawed DEP interpretation must be revisited in light of this disturbing research.
This is newsworthy and deeply troubling.