Protecting Ground Water via Pesticide Registration in New York Presentation to the Cornell Pesticide Users March 29, 2013 Soil & Water Group Department of Biological and Environmental Engineering

Outline Overview: Pesticides in groundwater Overview: Pesticides in groundwater Upstate monitoring by county Upstate monitoring by county Vulnerable formations: karst Vulnerable formations: karst New initiatives New initiatives Outreach Outreach

Long Island pesticide data: tracing past contamination Sampling intensity hi low

Pesticide detection patterns in Suffolk County groundwater From data Suffolk County submitted to New York State, Preliminary: Percentage of pesticide analyses reported as above detection limit

Current Pesticide Use in NY Derived from New York Pesticide Sales and Use Reporting system published data.

Mobility & persistence are combined in the Groundwater Ubiquity Score (GUS) factor Low High Very Low Medium Very High * Imazethapyr * Carbofuran * Atrazine * Alachlor * Chlorothalonil * Glyphosate

Pesticide use weighted by GUS

Upstate monitoring strategy Not looking for: Average groundwater concentrations Spills or violations But rather sampling well water in areas deemed vulnerable due to: high pesticide use groundwater (soil/aquifer) characteristics that favor transport

Working premise If well water in vulnerable areas is of good quality, then we can have high confidence that well water in less vulnerable areas is also of good quality Cortland County cornfield that dominates hill above shallow wells

Outline Overview: Pesticides in groundwater Overview: Pesticides in groundwater Upstate monitoring by county Upstate monitoring by county Karst formations Karst formations New initiatives New initiatives Outreach Outreach

County-based sampling Schenectady Orange Cayuga Cortland Genesee Wayne Partnering with local S&WCD’s, WQCC and DOH

Testing for... DEC lab (to 2009): 93 active ingredients DEC lab (to 2009): 93 active ingredients DEC lab since 2010: shorter priority list of 51 AIs and degradates (metabolites) DEC lab since 2010: shorter priority list of 51 AIs and degradates (metabolites) Cornell Soil & Water Laboratory: -- Selected active ingredients using higher resolution ELISA immunoassay methods -- Nitrates, anions (IC)

Findings in six counties... DEC broad-based scans: DEC broad-based scans: One detection of one active ingredient in 240 samples (reporting limits 1 μg/L (1 ppb) or less). Degradation products detected in 5 of 41 wells tested in Wayne County No exceedance of any of 15 NYS ground water standards or guidance levels No exceedance of any of 15 NYS ground water standards or guidance levels

Wayne County wells with detections or high NO 3 -N Land use: CC - corn/grain cash crop rotation O - orchards (apple) M -muckland vegetables W - wooded Depth (ft) Land Use NO 3 -N Metolachlor (µg/L)Alachlor ESA (µg/L) Atrazine (µg/L) (mg/L) OAESA OCC 14 ND < 0.1 ND 40-45CCW ND < 0.1trace<0.1 40CCO <0.5 ND < ND < 0.1ND 42CCO ND 12MCC10.2 ND < 0.1ND 22CCO< ND < 0.1trace <0.1

Cornell ELISA assay results for select AI’s

Nitrates typical for rural NY * * SO 4 interference

Interpretation to date Upstate rural wells – even vulnerable shallow wells surrounded by fields and having elevated nitrate – are in good shape relative to current groundwater pesticide standards. There are frequent low traces of atrazine and some metolachlor in agricultural areas, as found nationally.

Ongoing county-level work Revisiting selected wells in view of: Improved DEC lab reporting limits (0.1 ppb starting with Wayne Co.) Addition of key pesticide degradation products (metabolites) which can have greater mobility and/or toxicity than original AI Time-of-sampling studies – repeated at several month intervals (Orange County)

Questions so far? Overview: Pesticides in groundwater Overview: Pesticides in groundwater Upstate monitoring by county Upstate monitoring by county Karst formations Karst formations New initiatives New initiatives Outreach Outreach

Karst (carbonate) ground water Objective: determine if karst requires special registration consideration Genesee county hydrogeologic setting Interim results

Lots of carbonate in Upstate NY Dark hatching is carbonate; Source: USGS

Karst: Solution conduits in limestone

Carbonate western NY

Genesee karst Flow in limestone; losing reaches

Genesee karst: sampling sites

Genesee karst: sampling depths Onondaga Shale Unconf

Genesee karst: 16 months overall: atrazine 5/22 detects to 0.05 ppb 7/19 detects 0/9 detects Metolachlor similar: 6/13, 5/11, 0/6 respectively

Genesee karst: atrazine seasonality (% of samples) Jun10Jul10Sep10Dec10Sep11 Detect >=0.1 Trace >=0.05 ND <0.05 ppb

Geneva AES limestone?

Questions? Overview: Pesticides in groundwater Overview: Pesticides in groundwater Upstate monitoring by county Upstate monitoring by county Karst formations Karst formations New initiatives New initiatives Outreach Outreach

Looking ahead: New initiatives I - Lakeshore water supplies I - Lakeshore water supplies II - Greenhouse leaching II - Greenhouse leaching III - DEC modeling support III - DEC modeling support

Objective Assess the standard pesticide environmental fate model toolkit used in the NY registration process. Toolkit = leaching models + conservative environmental scenarios Leaching Model Support

Modeling tasks Specify evaluation criteria with DEC DEC staff workshop – walk through current goals, assumptions, & input scenarios Stakeholder roundtable – solicit input on model and design scenarios

Model and scenario evaluation - retrospective cases, new scenarios DEC workshop to walk through and evaluate findings, make draft recommendations Report with new model + scenario packages if merited More modeling tasks

Leaching models 1980’s traditional LEACHP, PRZM

Leaching models improved 1980’s traditional LEACHP, PRZM 2000’s with preferential Flow paths, tile drains, fragipans, i.e. short circuits and lateral losses to streams

Scenarios: conservative case(s) of usage, soil, climate, and depth to ground water. Do we need new upstate scenarios? Long Island (Riverhead) Upstate carbonate (Batavia) Upstate tile drains (Willsboro)

Willsboro Farm: Atrazine measured in tile drains Concentration Versus time

Aldicarb at CU Riverhead – simulated with DEC scenario Recharge Leachate concentration

Atrazine leaching: thin soil at Batavia Atrazine leaching: Long Island Atrazine leaching: Long Island

Questions? Overview: Pesticides in groundwater Overview: Pesticides in groundwater Upstate monitoring by county Upstate monitoring by county Karst formations Karst formations New initiatives New initiatives Outreach Outreach

Publications Ground Water Monitoring & Remediation research articles NY Veg Growers News Events 2011 Empire Farm Days booth Cornell in-service training NY State Soil & Water Conservation Committee September 2012 Northeast Pesticides C&T Meeting Webpage soilandwater.bee.cornell.edu/Research/pesticides/

Thanks to Funding NYS DEC NYS WRI directors Keith Porter & Susan Riha, who delegated to BEE County Partners Cortland, Schenectady, Orange, Cayuga, Genesee, and Wayne County Soil & Water Conservation Districts. Genesee County Health Dept. Many private well owners. Karst partner: Paul Richards, College at Brockport, Dept of Earth Sciences Cornell Pesticide Management Education Program for help using the PSUR database NYS Soil & Water Conservation Committee for early endorsement Cornell students Ian Toevs, Tony Salvucci, Ben Liu, Sophia Garcia, Mike Sinkevich, Ivy Tsoi, Zia Ahmed, Sheila Saia, Austin Merboth, Cedric Mason

Thank You!

Contacts Brian Richards Brian Richards Steve Pacenka Steve Pacenka Tammo Steenhuis Tammo Steenhuis pesticides/‏