61 Dale Mitchell – Oregon’s pesticide incidence reporting system (in English)

Speaker 1: From the Oregon State University Extension Service, this is Pollination, a podcast that tells the stories of researchers, land managers, and concerned citizens making bold strides to improve the health of pollinators.

I'm your host, Dr. Adoni Melopoulos, assistant professor in pollinator health in the Department of Horticulture. It's been about five years since Oregon experienced a string of tragic bumblebee poisonings surrounding pesticide use on linden trees. I thought with this anniversary having just passed, it'd be a great opportunity to talk to the Oregon Department of Agriculture about some of the innovative mechanisms they've put in place to collect reports of incidences from around the state and to rapidly respond to those incidences and conduct an investigation. So, it's a great opportunity to invite a guest host, Gilbert Aruba, who is the Oregon Department of Agriculture's pesticide registration and certification specialist. And he's going to be interviewing Dale Mitchell, a program manager with the Oregon Department of Agriculture who oversees this incident reporting system. So, this is a great episode. There's a lot of information. If you ever wanted to know who to call, if you suspect bee poisoning, this is the episode for you. Hope you enjoy the show.

Speaker 2: Hello, everybody. We are here today with Mr. Dale Mitchell, enforcement program manager in the Pesticides program at the Oregon Department of Agriculture. Hi, Dale. How are you? I'm doing great. So, how did you get started in the pesticide program and how long have you been at it?

Speaker 3: Well, my background is in agricultural biology, very extensive college work in agronomy and environmental science. Then, the agricultural industry regulatory since 1982 started my career down in the state of California working with the Ventura County Agricultural Commissioner's Office. This, again, pesticide regulation was the focus. 1990 started with the Oregon Department of Agriculture as the pesticide program manager and have been with the program since.

Speaker 2: Right. So, now we're here to talk about pollinators, specifically bees, and how their issues intersect with your program. So, Dale, could you walk us through the steps of a suspected bee kill investigation?

Speaker 3: Sure. The Oregon Department of Agriculture pesticide program is a state lead agency that responds to concerns of pesticide use and that could be concerns of sales, use, and or distribution. In the investigation process, the department, we are building an evidentiary case to determine compliance with the state pesticide control law. We are also acting as federal collaborators with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. And so, we are also determining compliance with FIFRA, the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act.

We have six district offices located throughout the state of Oregon and the field investigators respond to complaints or concerns associated with pesticides. Bee or pollinator concerns are only one type of investigative activity that we follow up on, but the process is really a fact-finding process. I mean, we need to identify the who, what, when, where, why, and how aspects of the incident. Now, going through an investigative process that would be initiated upon receipt of a complaint or concern to the pesticide program, we take down the information from the complainant, identifying the specifics and the location, the dates and times of the incident, as much as the detailed information that is currently available associated with the concern of the pollinators. Next step, our investigative staff will schedule an appointment to meet with the party at the site of the incident. Again, the investigator will interview the complainant, evaluate the specific site of the incident, and start to collect information and or evidence that may determine a relationship between the alleged pollinator or bee incident and any pesticide use practices in the area. So, you know, once the investigator meets with the complainant and reviews that information, the investigator will do a site evaluation, maybe collecting environmental samples from the incident site itself, and those samples may be vegetation samples, the samples could be soil samples and or actual samples of dead or dying bees. Again, this is all in the process of collecting evidence to determine what might be the cause of the pesticide incident and or, you know, kill. Next, the investigator would be asking the owner of the bees or individuals in the area about any use of pesticide products that they are aware of. This could be the actual use of pesticides by homeowners, by adjoining property owners, as well as the beekeeper's use of pesticide products, maybe for insects, pests, and diseases. So, once that information is gathered, the investigator will start looking at a broader aspect of the surrounding area, looking for other potential sources or indications that pesticides may in fact be used in the vicinity and could be related to the incident.

You know, this process is, as I said, a fact-finding, you know, process to try to determine the relationship of the incident. Once any environmental samples are collected or taken, those samples are prepared and submitted to the Oregon Department of Agriculture Laboratory Services Department for analysis. The department has created a pesticide bee screen, which is approximately 56 different active ingredients that are known to impact pollinators. The laboratory analysis will be performed on any of the environmental samples, including the bee samples that may have been collected. Once that information is analyzed and provided back to the program area, the department takes into consideration any analytical findings that may indicate a particular pesticide active ingredient involved in the incident.

Again, that information is shared with the investigator and with the parties involved. Again, the department's goal is to identify compliance with the state pesticide laws and regulations and to document if in fact the incident is related to any particular pesticide use practice. Once we have all the evidentiary cases compiled, the department determines if the evidence supports any violations of the state pesticide control law. And if in fact, the evidence does support violations, the department will address those violations by issuing an enforcement response. That could be notice of a violation that violations of the state pesticide control law had occurred, or it could be the imposition of a civil penalty depending on the seriousness of the situation and the gravity of the violation. So that is really the investigative process that we follow. It's a fact-finding process, but it's also an evidentiary-building process to determine compliance with laws and regulations.

Speaker 2: So it sounds like if you have a suspected bee incident and certain pesticides were being used in the area, then you can test for those pesticides in the bees that you find or the foliage and the environmental samples. How do you approach a case in which there are a lot of dead bees but you don't have it narrowed down to a particular product that may have been used in the area? Is there a screen that's done for several active ingredients or how does that change the process?

Speaker 3: Yes. As I had mentioned, the Oregon Department of Agriculture over several years has compiled working with our Laboratory Services Division, a pesticide screen that we can use as an indicator of pesticide residues actually being found on the bees themselves. If we do collect bee samples, we will submit the sample to the Oregon Department of Agriculture Laboratory.

The bee screen consists of about 54 to 56 different active ingredients, and those are known active ingredients to affect pollinators. Again, it's a process of elimination and narrowing the scope, particularly when we're dealing with an unknown. So that laboratory screen specific for pollinator samples is a very important tool that we use in our enforcement program.

Speaker 2: And it sounds like the process that you've described can be applied to different sorts of pesticide-related incidents. So this kind of leads to the next question, is this process different than other pesticide investigations, the typical kinds of complaints and investigations that you handle?

Speaker 3: Well, we handle over 13 different types of investigative activities for compliance with state and federal laws and regulations. Pesticide investigations dealing with pollinators, while the investigative process may be similar to other investigative processes, collecting and identifying the information, collecting the facts and the evidence, pollinator cases are a little bit unique. Because pollinators may be forging quite some distance, certainly it can be challenging at times trying to identify potential sources. The department also works closely with Oregon State University and other state beekeeper organizations. We are also evaluating the hive's health. Could the bee incident be related to some sort of pest or disease? So many times during a bee investigation, we will pull multiple samples and share them with some of our other pollinator experts for analysis of insects and disease symptoms. Again, you know, incidents, it's easy to jump to pesticides as being related to the incidents, but many times it may be unknown. So we have to go through kind of that fact-finding and rule out other possibilities at the same time that we are trying to identify any relationship to a pesticide incident. So while there may be similarities, you know, pollinator incidents are a little bit unique because you are looking at a much broader use in the geographical area that could be associated.

Speaker 2: And so it sounds like you have a really good or a good working relationship with other pollinator experts and other agencies and organizations that can help you with some of the details that you have. But when it comes to the enforcement staff here at the pesticide program, what kind of training do the investigators have to go out and deal with these kinds of issues?

Speaker 3: The investigative staff, again, are working with the other professionals throughout the state. We periodically hold trainings in regards to pest and disease symptoms so that our staff are aware of these symptoms and some of the other high health issues. We also dialogue and continue to work by attending trainings on a national basis with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and other state-led agencies across the nation that may be hosting pollinator-specific investigative training.

So our staff, you know, do attend these trainings. We are always in a learning process through each investigative process, but our staff are very well trained in responding to pollinator incidents.

Speaker 2: Okay, and I know that there are times when people may run into dead bees or think that they've come across an issue and they're unsure about who to contact or whether they should contact the Department of Agriculture. So when should people call the ODA?

Speaker 3: Certainly as the state-lead agency regulating the sales use and distribution of pesticides, you know, if any citizen within Oregon suspects that the bee incident may be related to a pesticide use practice, certainly the Oregon Department of Agriculture pesticide program responds to all complaints that are received with alleged pollinator or bee incidents here in Oregon. Not only is the pesticide program within the Oregon Department of Agriculture the primary source to contact to initiate a review or investigation on the incident, but there's another program within the Oregon Department of Agriculture which is the Pesticide Analytical and Response Center. That program does have a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week call line that citizens can contact and that information will be shared with multiple state agencies to evaluate the concerns of pollinators. The contact information for PARC, the Pesticide Analytical Response Center, is 503-986-6470. That information will go into a 211 information specialist who will share that information with the state-lead agencies for appropriate follow-up to the citizen's concern.

Speaker 2: To know broadly speaking, we've heard that Oregonians tend to do things differently. And so to the extent of your knowledge, how does the ODA's process and investigation compare to other states' investigative processes when it comes to pollinators?

Speaker 3: Well, actually, in this circumstance, Oregon is quite similar to the other state-led agencies. Back in May of 2013, the US EPA, you know, in an attempt to bring about the consistency of response to pollinator issues or B incidents across the United States, created a guidance or inspection guidance for alleged cases of pesticide-related B incidents. Each of the state-lead agencies has been provided this guidance and Oregon, you know, has adopted this guidance into our standard or basic investigative procedures to build that consistency. Again, it's important that the B incident data, be it the investigations, that incident data is actually shared on a national basis with the US EPA. Thus, consistency in how states are gathering incident data is very important. So in this circumstance, the state of Oregon, while our investigative procedures are consistent, we are sharing that data on a national basis to identify trends of incidents and pesticides impacting pollinators.

Speaker 2: Well, good. Thank you for that. And it sounds like that is an important aspect of data collection is to have consistency across the different organizations, otherwise, it'd be difficult to compare national trends if that wasn't the case. And so we all know or have heard now about the Wilsonville incident in 2013 where bumble bees were impacted by pesticides at a parking lot here in Oregon. How did things change after that incident in your experience?

Speaker 3: Well, the 2013 incident in Wilsonville, Oregon in the Target parking lot received a lot of national as well as worldwide, you know, attention. Certainly our program, you know, was the primary lead agency or program in investigating that incident and the compliance with that incident. But that really sparked a greater awareness of the general public and concern for pesticide impacts on pollinators. While certainly it did impact the pesticide program by refining its investigative processes and tools and as we previously mentioned, creating a laboratory bee screen specific to bee incidents, it really has increased the general public's awareness of what to look for and who to contact with concerns of pollinators. So that 2013 incident did drive additional reporting to our agency. But I think the greatest benefit of that incident was a greater awareness of the importance of pollinators and the importance of reading and following the label instructions and being aware of pesticide applications where pollinators are visiting different, you know, plant material during the application time and individuals making, you know, adjustments to their pesticide use practices. So we saw quite a bit of change throughout the years following that incident in Wilsonville. Right.

Speaker 2: And that involved not only public perception but also led to some legislative action and action by the department to take steps to try to minimize those risks and prevent future events from happening.

Speaker 3: Absolutely. I mean, certainly from that particular incident, the Oregon Department of Agriculture went to emergency rulemaking that was very specific in regard to several of the active ingredients that may have been involved or known to be involved with the Wilsonville incident.

While the Oregon Department of Agriculture went to rulemaking to prohibit the specific use of those chemicals on linden trees, the Oregon legislature also enacted additional legislation that addressed greater resources in education and outreach and working with the Oregon Department of Agriculture and Oregon State University on additional research and measures that can be taken to prevent pollinator impacts here in Oregon. So you're absolutely right. I mean, that incident did bring about a greater awareness, not only through the legislative process and the general public but also through very specific regulations to prevent additional repeats of incidents such as Wilsonville.

Speaker 2: Yeah. And like you mentioned, this incident didn't bring up the issue of pesticides and the risk that they may pose when used in a manner inconsistent with the label. To the general public, oftentimes it's hard for somebody to care about or to be aware of those issues if it's not something that they have to face. Agricultural workers have to work with them, pesticide applicators have to work with them. So they're more aware, but when it sounds like it's a distant problem, it's harder to get the public involved to the degree that they have become involved because it happened in such a public place, they got to witness it within their daily lives.

They're going shopping and they're seeing the dead bumblebee. So it just raised that awareness to a different level than otherwise would have. So how many confirmed incidents are there per year?

Speaker 3: Well, back in 2013, the department had logged approximately 19 to 20 B incidents. Following the Wilsonville incident, the department saw an increase up to 34, 35 incidents reported. Now, these incidents are investigations. Many times the information and evidence may or may not confirm a pesticide relationship, but it's still valuable to review all of these incidents. Again, not only looking for compliance with the pesticide control law, but we're also looking for potential trends with particular use practices of pesticides or certain pesticide active ingredients. 2015, we continued with that increased trend, but for 2016 and 2017, we have seen a decline in the number of incidents that are being reported to the Oregon Department of Agriculture.

Now, I like to think of that as a good trend. I like to, a decrease, certainly that could be a greater awareness of pesticide users and changing practices to prevent incidents from occurring, but it looks like in 2016, we were down to about 13 incidents. Again, these numbers certainly will fluctuate throughout the year, but we have identified what appears to be a downward trend in regard to the number of incidents being reported, and I like to evaluate that as a positive, I do think that the additional awareness and education and outreach is associated with that downward trend. I am very proud to say at this point that we have not had repeated incidents, such as we saw back in 2013 in Wilsonville, so certainly it is encouraging to see that downward trend.

Speaker 2: Yeah, and I know the department has been involved. The Department of Agriculture is part of the Oregon B Project, and the Oregon B Project is involved in a lot of outreach and development of new materials to help pesticide applicators read the labels and interpret the labels correctly and help them minimize the risk that pesticide applications will pose to bees. Is there anything else that you would like to add or send out there, to get the message out to folks that you would like to?

Speaker 3: I would just like to encourage any citizens within the state of Oregon to report any suspected B-related incident. That information is valuable to the department and others involved in evaluating pollinator health and pollinator protection throughout the state of Oregon. So certainly, please reach out to the Oregon Department of Agriculture Pesticide Program.

As I stated previously, we respond to all allegations of pesticide-related B-incident concerns, and again, that information and that data is valuable not only on a state level but on a national level to evaluate pollinator health and prevention of impacts of pesticides on pollinators.

Speaker 2: And yeah, and what was that number that they could call again?

Speaker 3: Certainly, the number for the park program, it's actually 211, it's an information referral service. That information will make its way to the pesticide program. The number is 503-986-6470. And certainly, the other contact information would be the Oregon Department of Agriculture Pesticide Program. Our direct number is area code 503-986-4635.

Speaker 2: Yeah, and those instructions again, it can be found at the ODA webpage and also at the OregonBproject.org webpage. Instructions on how to report a B-kill can be found on those web pages with those numbers also there. So just to wrap up with some of the questions that are asked of all of the participants of the podcast, is there a book that you would recommend?

Speaker 3: Certainly, maybe not a book, but for parties interested in inspection guidance in regards to following up on B incidents. Certainly, I would recommend the US EPA's Guidance for Inspection of Alleged Cases of Pesticide B-related incidents.

This was a document produced by the US EPA back in May of 2013 and can be found on the US EPA's website. Certainly, it's a good document for individuals to be aware of what goes on in a B-incident investigation and what an investigator may be looking for during that investigation activity.

Speaker 2: And I've actually found that reading through some of those documents provides a lot of insight and nuance as to why the investigations happen the way they do, that there are a lot of complexities going on with this sort of data collection and investigations and really any processes that are trying to be applied at a national level with how differently different agencies operate and so they're trying to make something that can be used by everyone and to get really a good understanding of why things work the way they are. I think reading some of these documents is really important to gain some insight. So is there a tool for the kind of work that you do that's really important or critical that you would like to point folks to?

Speaker 3: Well, again, our investigative protocols that we use, the investigators are using investigative inspection protocols along with the guidance documents and inspection protocols with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Again, those documents or those protocols or guidance really provide consistency, not only within the state of Oregon on investigating B incidents, but on a national basis. So we find those very valuable tools for us as state regulators to be conducting these types of investigative activities.

Speaker 2: And again, those documents can all be found at either EPA's website or our website. Some of them can be found on our website, but they're all publicly available. That is correct. Do you have a favorite pollinator?

Speaker 3: Well, I'm going to have to say APIS-Malifera, the common honeybee that would probably be my favorite pollinator. The honeybees certainly provide so many benefits to Oregonians and the benefits of the abundance of crops that we produce here in Oregon. So that would be my favorite pollinator.

Speaker 2: And you had mentioned your experience with pesticides and how long you've been working in the area. Was that sort of planned or did it just kind of happen that you kind of stuck with the pesticide-related career path?

Speaker 3: Well, while my major in college was primarily environmental sciences, heavy on entomology and agronomy, I have my career has been in regulatory agriculture ever since graduation from college. So that puts probably well over 35 years of pesticide regulation experience. And again, with the focus on pesticide laws and regulations and the enforcement of those regulations.

Speaker 2: Great. Well, Dale, thank you for taking the time to speak with us. Okay. Thank you.

Speaker 1: Thanks so much for listening. Show notes with information discussed in each episode can be found at pollinationpodcast.oregonstate.edu. We'd also love to hear from you and there are several ways to connect. For one, you can visit our website to post an episode-specific comment, suggest a future guest or topic, or ask a question that could be featured in a future episode. You can also email us at [email protected]. Finally, you can tweet questions or comments or join our Facebook or Instagram communities. Just look us up at OSU Pollinator Health. If you like the show, consider letting iTunes know by leaving us a review or rating.

It makes us more visible, which helps others discover pollination. See you next week.