Recently in Pesticide Contamination Category

By following intensive biological farming practices, Sustainable Cotton Project growers reduced the use of the most toxic pesticides on their cotton. Moreover, they slashed overall pesticide use by up to 70%.

A short documentary produced by the Davis, California-based Sustainable Cotton Project (SCP)has been produced by Gibbs and videographer Liam Creighton. The "Cleaner Cotton" video documents the cotton project's impressive campaign to improve the environment, public health and agriculture economy of Firebaugh, a small rural Central Valley farming town about 40 miles west of Fresno.

"Look at the things we're doing for the community, reducing pesticides in the watershed," Firebaugh grower John Texeira says in the video. The eco-friendly farming practices paid off at harvest, too. "We had yields better than our neighbors."

Indeed, Sustainable Cotton Project growers are leaving an imprint on the San Joaquin Valley, which produces some of the finest cotton in the world, a high-quality fiber that can command a premium price.

The region produces about 90% of the nation's Pima cotton, the Cadillac of cotton in the U.S., rivaling the fine Egyptian quality.

Global Green Cotton Market

In the past six years, participating farmers have produced more than one million pounds of Sustainable Cotton Project's trademarked Cleaner Cotton® for the $5 billion-a-year global green cotton market. The project is working with major retailers such as Gap Inc, Levi Strauss & Co, Williams Sonoma, North Face and others to incorporate the eco-friendly cotton into their product lines.

View "Cleaner Cotton" Online

The cotton video is part of the work of the Sustainable Cotton Project. Learn more at: Cleaner Cotton. The Sustainable Cotton Project is a private non-profit working under the direction of the Community Alliance with Family Farmers in Davis.

Organics are usually considered part of the resulting crops...not the value of the land itself.  But that might be changing.  In New Jersey, the residual pesticides in the soil of farmland is being looked at carefully for the implications on future residents.  Hmmm....

A New Jersey case raises questions about what restrictions should be placed on builders seeking to develop former farmland where pesticides were used.

Long-term exposure to the contaminants found in the soil, arsenic and dieldrin, can lead to skin, liver and pancreatic cancer, according to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection's Web site. No illnesses have been reported among residents, but the uncertainty has altered daily routines.

NJ SUITS PUT FARMLAND DEVELOPMENT UNDER MICROSCOPE"

A tangle of New Jersey lawsuits raises issues about what restrictions
should be placed on builders seeking to develop farmland where
pesticides were formerly used. David Porter reports for the Associated
Press August 2, 2009.

Who, if anyone, was legally obligated to notify the homeowners is at the heart of the case, and the answer isn't readily apparent in existing state and federal environmental law.

New Jersey and other states have laws that require property owners to notify potential buyers if a property is near a former toxic waste site, for example, but those laws generally don't apply to farmland where pesticides were used.

Decontaminating soil isn't just about immediate food or crop production.  It also has long term land value implications, and risk management.  There are ways today to quickly decontaminate soils using new methods.  The solution is to decontaminate soil of toxic chemicals in a cost efficient way.  The value is immediate and long term.