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EPA regulations likely to kill Louisiana's largest peach orchard
Posted on 7/12/14 at 4:38 pm
Posted on 7/12/14 at 4:38 pm
quote:
RUSTON, La. — Peach orchards at Mitcham Farms, near the north Louisiana city of Ruston, have survived winter freezes, droughts and dangerous hail storms. But they evidently will not survive the Environmental Protection Agency and its regulations.
The family-owned business, established in 1946 and featured in tourism magazines, is Louisiana’s largest peach orchard,according to its website, but owner Joe Mitcham expects he’ll close up shop in only a few years.
In 2005, the federal government completed its phase out of a chemical known as methyl bromide, used to control pests in peach trees and other plants. This has given Mitcham no choice but to close, as most of his trees won’t survive without it. In fact, many already have.
The EPA claims using this chemical threatens the earth’s ozone layer and that the U.S. had to discontinue its use because of the Montreal Protocol On Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer and because of the Clean Air Act.
Mitcham told Watchdog the federal regulations also have forced him to downsize his business from 60 employees to 20 and he now struggles to cover business expenses. He took over the business from his father, he said. But he is ready to retire, and his children–and other potential buyers–have little interest in a peach tree farm in which the peach trees are dying.
“We had the potential to be a million-dollar business,” he said. “But definitely not now.”
EPA spokeswoman Enesta Jones told Watchdog on Wednesday that many of the agency’s experts on the subject of methyl bromide are “out of the office this week.”
The peach orchards remain a huge tourism draw, Mitcham said. People come from all over to see them, and they are the star of the annual Peach Festival in Ruston.
“It’s such a symbol of our area, and it’s such a part of our history and it’s such a shame that it would go away,” said Laura Jones of Ruston, who has taken her children to visit the farm. “I don’t know what that would mean for our Peach Festival.”
Agricultural experts are currently pondering the benefits of an alternative to methyl bromide, but, if approved, no one will sell it until long after Mitcham’s farm is gone, he said.
LINK
I support the environment, but there is a point in which protection goes too far. We have to remember that the human species has needs too.
Posted on 7/12/14 at 4:41 pm to HailHailtoMichigan!
quote:
Montreal Protocol On Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer
Ahhhh the Montreal Protocol.
Posted on 7/12/14 at 4:58 pm to fleaux
Sounds lame, but how do peaches grow in other states without this stuff?
Posted on 7/12/14 at 4:59 pm to HailHailtoMichigan!
quote:
We have to remember that the human species has needs too.
What is it exactly that we humans need in this instance? Peaches? I have no need for peaches.
I do, however, enjoy the benefits of my own skin and appreciate the protection of the ozone layer.
This post was edited on 7/12/14 at 5:01 pm
Posted on 7/12/14 at 5:00 pm to HailHailtoMichigan!
quote:Who needs peaches? We can eat pine cones and kudzu salad.
We have to remember that the human species has needs too.
Posted on 7/12/14 at 5:01 pm to HailHailtoMichigan!
quote:
In 2005, the federal government completed its phase out of a chemical known as methyl bromide, used to control pests in peach trees and other plants. This has given Mitcham no choice but to close, as most of his trees won’t survive without it. In fact, many already have.
I see where the article says experts are looking at an alternative but I would think there are other chemicals available to kill pests. May not be as effective but I imagine there is. That's the problem with articles like this, they don't exactly give the complete picture.
Posted on 7/12/14 at 5:01 pm to Rex
quote:Then why do you wear a dog mask?
I do, however, enjoy the benefits of my own skin
Posted on 7/12/14 at 5:02 pm to HailHailtoMichigan!
quote:So the human species has a "need" to grow peaches in Louisiana? A "need" so big its time to say FU to the environment?
I support the environment, but there is a point in which protection goes too far. We have to remember that the human species has needs too.
BTW, is saying the "biggest peach orchid in Louisiana" kinduv like saying "Most honest governor in Louisiana ever"?
This post was edited on 7/12/14 at 5:05 pm
Posted on 7/12/14 at 5:04 pm to Asgard Device
quote:Do not look at the man behind the curtain...
how do peaches grow in other states without this stuff?
Posted on 7/12/14 at 5:05 pm to mmcgrath
quote:When I said "needs", I meant the more broad concept of economic well-being. 40 people have lost their jobs at this farm because of these regulations.
So the human species has a "need" to grow peaches in Louisiana? A "need" so big its time to say FU to the environment?
Posted on 7/12/14 at 5:06 pm to HailHailtoMichigan!
quote:
When I said "needs", I meant the more broad concept of economic well-being. 40 people have lost their jobs at this farm because of these regulations.
Do you really believe that?
Posted on 7/12/14 at 5:06 pm to HailHailtoMichigan!
A picture of life before the EPA.... no, make that a "picher of life" before the EPA... I give you a ghost town in Oklahoma:
LINK
LINK
This post was edited on 7/12/14 at 5:08 pm
Posted on 7/12/14 at 5:10 pm to Rex
quote:For god's sake Rex, I have already said that environmental protection is a necessary function of the government. I, however, also recognize that regulations add immense cost to businesses, which in the long run harm the most economically vulnerable.
A picture of life before the EPA.... no, make that a "picher of life" before the EPA... I give you a ghost town in Oklahoma:
This post was edited on 7/12/14 at 5:14 pm
Posted on 7/12/14 at 5:11 pm to Rex
quote:
I do, however, enjoy the benefits of my own skin and appreciate the protection of the ozone layer.
Holy shite..
Posted on 7/12/14 at 5:15 pm to HailHailtoMichigan!
I don't take criticisms of the EPA lightly, especially after that Bundy Ranch bullshite by right wing loons that was defended so heavily here and on Fox.
Posted on 7/12/14 at 5:23 pm to Rex
quote:Of course you don't, and I happen to support the agency, too. But I'm not sitting here and pretending that regulations don't make people worse off economically. Just look at the coal country of Kentucky and West Virginia. In a more extreme example, look at Africa after DDT was banned.
I don't take criticisms of the EPA lightly
And now they can garnish your wages, and the regulations are often arbitrary. For example, You should know that bromomethane (methyl bromide) is still used in the United States to treat tomato and stramberry crops, ornamental shrubs, ham & other pork products and wood packaging. These uses are exemptions for which the US lobbied under the Montreal Protocol. It's not banned, its use is just restricted. Incidentally, it's used to treat the trees, not the fruit, in peach orchards.
This post was edited on 7/12/14 at 5:25 pm
Posted on 7/12/14 at 5:32 pm to HailHailtoMichigan!
I suspect the real issue is none of the next generation want to go into the peach business. Why is Mitcham the only orchard in danger of shutting down over this?
Posted on 7/12/14 at 5:43 pm to HailHailtoMichigan!
There has to be an alternative to methyl bromide, huh?
Posted on 7/12/14 at 5:45 pm to Rex
quote:
I do, however, enjoy the benefits of my own skin and appreciate the protection of the ozone layer.
The irony is ozone only forms where the sun is shining. Thus the large "ozone hole" in Antarctica during winter.
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