WA: "State, Growers Scrap Pesticide Permit for Oyster Beds After Outcry"

"Bowing to public pressure, the [Washington] Department of Ecology and a growers association have agreed to cancel a recently issued permit for the use of a controversial pesticide to treat oyster beds, the DOE said Sunday.

The permit to use imidacloprid, a neurotoxic pesticide, in Willapa Bay and Grays Harbor, two bays that account for a quarter of the commercial oysters produced in the U.S., prompted a deluge of grief from environmentalists, restaurateurs and the public.

The backlash led Taylor Shellfish, Washington’s largest shellfish producer and a major backer of using the pesticide, to announce Friday it was abandoning its plan to use the toxin to combat burrowing shrimp, which have been wreaking havoc on local oyster beds."

The Seattle Times had the story May 3, 2015.

SEE ALSO:

"Pesticide Spray Plan for Willapa Bay Oyster Beds Canceled After Public Expresses Concerns" (AP)