01/27/05 Kaolin clay exemption hearings

Public hearings are set for next Tuesday afternoon in Wenatchee City Hall, and the following afternoon at U.S.D.A. offices in Yakima on a proposed exemption. WEED: Presently we have a rule in place that refers to the operational area containment permanent mixing and loading sites. And in essence, what that would require is that when certain threshold values, in this particular case, five-hundred gallons of active ingredient of any one pesticide mixed at one location would require a permanent mixing and loading site. That's Cliff Weed of the Washington State Department of Agriculture. His agency plans to grant an exemption of kaolin clay from the requirements. The kaolin compound is used by some pear growers, sometimes for multiple uses. The exemption comes after the Washington State Horticultural Association pleaded its case on behalf of small pear growers that keeping kaolin under the current containment rules would be for some growers extremely cost prohibitive. And Weed agrees with the Hort Association's added argument that why should there be restrictions on kaolin which is proven to be environmentally friendly. WEED: In essence, if these rules to do go into place, and kaolin is exempt, growers would not have to build costly operational permanent mixing and loading sites for a product that is so environmentally friendly, so we think this would certainly be a win-win situation all the way around.