Orchards

Proposed rules designed to protect Oregon farmworkers from pesticide exposure has both farmers and worker advocates on edge.

A liable party makes a world of difference for Washington’s Department of Ecology. It could be the difference between paying for cleanups and letting contamination linger.

Using a grant from the Fund for Environmental Journalism, EarthFix sampled and tested soil from 30 properties in Yakima and Wenatchee in Washington and Hood River in Oregon.

DDT was banned in 1972 because of its harm to human health and the environment. DDT can take more than 15 years to break down in the environment, meaning it leaves a toxic trace for many years. But when it replaced lead arsenate in the late 1940s, “DDT was the savior.”

At homes and day care centers throughout Central Washington, children play in yards still contaminated by pesticides sprayed decades ago when the land was used to grow apples.

Here are some tips from a soil scientist on how to avoid potential exposure if you think soil in your yard might be contaminated by old pesticides.