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Panel Rejects Change to Water Quality Standards Levels of the Herbicide Atrazine, Which May Harm Fish, Will Remain.

Posted on: Saturday, 3 December 2005, 18:00 CST

By Nancy Gaarder

LINCOLN -- A last-minute effort to toughen Nebraska's water quality standards for atrazine failed Friday when the State Environmental Quality Council approved new designations for waterways.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service told the commission that fish that have been exposed to atrazine in the Platte River have shown signs of potential reproductive damage.

The state is using an atrazine standard that has been approved by the Environmental Protection Agency but which the EPA itself has abandoned under criticism. The federal agency is in the process of developing a new standard.

Atrazine is a popular agricultural herbicide that washes into streams and lakes after rainfalls.

Christina Lydick of the Fish and Wildlife Service made the request, also asking that the state shore up its mercury rule and nutrient guidelines.

The council approved the new regulations without calling for a revision in atrazine standards.

Mike Linder, head of the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality, said the agency is unlikely to revisit the atrazine standard anytime soon.

Instead, he said, the state probably will wait for the EPA to select a final standard and then adjust Nebraska's accordingly.

The panel approved new regulations that designate almost half of Nebraska's streams as waterways where people might be expected to go wading or boating. As a result, standards will be set to try to get those streams safe enough for human contact.

The new standards will mean that 47 communities must improve wastewater treatment. The improvements are expected to cost about $2.6 million statewide.

Source: Omaha World - Herald

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