C32—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, January 12,1980
While environmentalists
press for an end to
agricultural chemicals and
naturalists talk about food
production without
agricultural chemicals,
researchers continue m their
effort to find a better way to
produce our food supply
using agricultural chemicals
m a safe and sensible way.
If you doubt the continued
need for these chemicals,
particularly pesticides,
consider this: Food
producers worldwide battle
against 10,000 harmful in
sects, 1500 damaging
diseases, 1800 noxious
weeds, and 1000 tiny
nematode species.
Obviously, it will take a lot
more than a sharp-eyed bug
picker to deal with crop
damage potential of that
magnitude.
Beyond the usual
problems of pesticide
handling and application is
the burdensome task of
disposal. What does a far
mer or commercial ap
plicator do with leftover
pesticides and with the
residues from pesticide
containers?
There was a time when
they simply dug holes and
buned them, or stored them
in large containers and then
buried the large containers.
But environmentalists are
rapidly putting an end to that
kind of behavior, and rightly
so. They’re saying to
pesticide users that they
must clean up their act, and
that includes safe disposal.
So what is a safe way to get
nd of pesticide residues?
Farm
Talk
Jerry Webb
Researchers at the lowa
Agricultural Experiment
Station are working with the
Environmental Protection
Agency, testing a system
that holds great promise. It’s
simple, can be accomplished
on the farm, and seems to be
quite safe. A research team
of agronomists, engineers
botanists, entomologists,
horticulturists and bac
teriologists, using funds
from the Environmental
Protection Agency, has
converged on a concrete pit
that is yielding a lot of in
formation about pesticide
disposal.
The project involves a 12 x
30-foot pit that slopes from 3
to 4-feet deep. It’s lined with
a layer of gravel, followed by
a layer of soil and another
layer of gravel. A tile line
underneath the pit allows
researchers to sample
ground water, and a
movable roof covers the pit
during rain. This setup
allows the researchers to see
what does happen to
pesticides that are disposed
of in such a manner.
The researchers were
looking for a system that
would be leak-proof and
overflow proof, that would
provide an environment in
which chemicals could
degrade or decompose into
harmless substances. And
they wanted something that
would allow water
evaporation to make room
for more waste.
During the research effort,
more than 40 pesticides have
been disposed of in the pit,
usually in the form of rinse
water from applicator
equipment.
Here’s the interesting
part. Researchers found no
chemical buildup in
surrounding ground water
and no contamination in a
well, located only 240 feet
from the pit.
They discovered that the
chemicals did break down
through chemical and
biological processes, and
that the atmosphere around
the pit contained less than
one part per billion of
chemical contamination.
According to one
researcher, that amount of
contamination is equal to a
speck of dandruff on a hair
stretched from the earth to
the moon.
At another site, the lowa
researchers looked at a
number of small pits made
of plastic garbage cans.
These also produced en
couraging results.
The researchers say that
while the soil has an
amazing ability to absort
and break down pesticides,
man has the ability to
produce chemicals faster
than Mother Nature can
dispose of them. That means
some form of containment,
perhaps the concrete pit or
maybe even the small
plastic garbage cans, are the
answer to this “pesty”
problem.
Obviously, more research
needs to be done before the
lowa team is ready to say
that these pit disposal units
are the answer to all
pesticide problems, and they
want more time to look into
other aspects of pesticide
disposal.
In the meantime, they are
developing a final report of
the first three years of this
work and will make
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Area schools earn top
honors with windows
HARRISBURG - The
fifty -sixth annual
agricultural and
homemaking school exhibits
were held in conjunction
with the Pennsylvania State
Farm Show this week.
The exhibits are conducted
as a contest between
chapters of the Future
Farmers of America and the
Future Homemakers of
America.
In the FFA competition,
Manheim Central High
School, Lancaster County,
took second place next to the
Curwensville Area High
School of Clearfield County.
The Manheim FFA
Chapter’s window exhibit
was titled “Thieves in the
Night.” The exhibit provided
examples of thieves of the
mght and measures that can
be taken to control the
thieves.
available a user’s manual
detailing research results
and recommendations for pit
construction and operation.
Environmental purists
will probably find some Way
to object to this solution to
pesticide disposal, but surely
they will admit it’s better
than what goes on now. And
until they’ve carefully
analized the results of this
agricultural research,
maybe they should withhold
judgment. Perhaps this is an
enviommentally good way to
dispose of pesticides
chemicals that are
necessary if we are to
continue to feed ourselves.
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Terraces.
For their second place
finish, the Chapter eames
$65.
In the home economics
competition, the Warwick
High School FFA Chapter of
Lititz, Lancaster County
took third place honors.
Their display, “Know
Your Cookware” informed
the viewer of four different
types of cookware, men
tioning both the advantages
and disadvantages of each.
The FHA Chapter will
receive $55 for their efforts.
A complete list of the
School Window Exhibits
follows.
AGRICULTURE
I Curwensville Area High School 2
Manheim Central High School 3 Mif
flmburg Area High School 4 Central
Fulton High School 5 In Valley High
School 6 James Buchanan High School,
7 Penns Valley High School 8 Kutztown
Area High School 9 Bermudian Springs
High School
HOME ECONOMICS
1 Montgomery Area High School 2
Southern Columbia Area High School 3
Warwick High School ♦ Red Lion Senior
High School 5 East Juniata High School
6 Harrisburg High School 7 Halifax Area
High School
PH: 215-267-3808