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September 7, 2008 11:45:21 PM CDT

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Clean Air Rules Squeezing Berry Farmers

Posted Mar 2, 08 7:38 AM CST in US,  Business,  Science & Health 

(Newser) – California strawberry farmers fear that EPA efforts to curb pesticide pollution could kill most of this year's crops, the AP reports. Ventura County growers, who produce 25% of the nation's berries, say the pesticides are needed to increase crop output. Requirements that fumigants be cut as much as half could reduce production by 7,500 acres, a "death blow" to the area that could cost tens of millions of dollars, one farmer said.

The regulations stem from California's long-neglected 1994 agreement to comply with the EPA's Clean Air Act. But the slash in this year's allowances is too much, too soon, say farmers, who argue that they may go broke and sell their land to developers who create more pollution. "Neither the federal government nor any other state has ever attempted to do anything like this before," one state official admitted.

Source Associated Press

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Zan Stucky, age 9, a 3rd grader at Addison Elementary, brought a ham sandwich from home, along with some fresh strawberries.   (KRT Photos)
Customers shop for strawberries and tomatoes inside Philadelphia's Reading Terminal Market on Tuesday, July 17, 2007. (AP Photo/George Widman)   (Associated Press)
Ron Rodriguez holds some of the strawberries grown on his farm in Watsonville, California, in June 2005.   (KRT Photos)
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California  • Environmental Protection Agency  • farmer  • air pollution  • crops  • pesticide  • Clean Air Act  • cash crops


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