Former Orchards Left Behind Polluted Soils, Groundwater in New York

Fall is my favorite season in Western New York, and nothing represents the season better than the apple orchards that have dotted our rural landscapes for centuries.   But many former orchards, some of which have been developed into residential developments over the decades, left pollution in the soils below the fruit trees that often persists even though the orchard itself is long gone.

According to several studies, including a report in the journal of Environmental Health Perspectives from 2006,[1] the surface and near-surface soils of old apple and other tree crop orchards are often contaminated with lead and arsenic from pesticide applications that occurred decades ago.  Many of these former orchards have since been converted into beautiful residential properties but the dirty dirt remains.

How did the toxic metals get there and what is being done about it?  

Lead Arsenate, toxic metals combined

Lead arsenate, also known as LA, was the leading arsenic-based pesticide in the country for years, starting in 1892 when it was first introduced to protect orchards against the ravages of insect damage.  While other arsenical pesticides were used over time, including the alluringly named “Paris green,” LA became the leading pesticide of choice for orchards by the 1930s. 

Compared to pesticides used on field crops, orchard growers tended to apply pesticides like LA more frequently and in higher concentrations on fruit orchards, and often over many years.  This was consistent with the recommendations of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) at the time, who widely recommended the use and adoption of the chemical. 

According to a 2006 report, “[m]illions of acres across the nation” are potentially contaminated with arsenic and lead as a result of legacy orchard operations and the spraying of LA. 

As its name suggests, lead arsenate was a combined solution of lead and arsenic, two metals now known to be toxic and which do not easily break down in the environment.  Once LA reached the soils beneath the orchards, either through over-spraying, spillage, rainfall wash off, etc., the lead remained there in surface and near-surface soils, owing to the immobile nature of lead.  Exposure to lead, especially for young children, can lead to neurological damage.

Arsenic (a toxin and carcinogen) also remained in many of the soils, but at least one recent study shows that the arsenic can mobilize and affect drinking water resources.  A 2021 study identified arsenic from historical pesticide use as a source of regional groundwater contamination. The study’s authors advocated for “the need for groundwater testing for [arsenic] in water supply wells, especially when they are in the vicinity of historic orchards.”[2]

Lead Arsonate use in New York

Apples are big business in New York and have been for a long time, especially here in Western New York.  I live about 10 minutes from Wayne County, where “[a]pple farming has been a way of life…for centuries.”[3]  New York State has 51,097 acres of apple trees, 20,862 of which are in Wayne County, making it the top apple-producing county in the state.

Unlike some environmental agencies in other apple-producing states, such as Washington State, the New York Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) does not have a webpage dedicated to legacy contamination from apple orchards. 

This does not mean it is any less of a problem here in New York. 

“Lead arsenate was often used for pest control in apple and other fruit orchards in New York State,” according to a 1994 study that focused on historical contamination in orchards from lead arsenate in the Empire State.[4]  Some old timer farmers in the region recall spraying LA on orchards as children without the use of any personal protective equipment.  Of 13 orchard sites tested in the State in the 1994 Study, 11 had elevated levels of arsenic or lead.  

I live on a former orchard.  Should I be concerned?

To find out if you have soils contaminated with arsenic or lead, you would need to hire a consultant to conduct soil sampling or take soil samples yourself.  If you have contaminated soils, whether you’re at risk from lead or arsenic in soils or groundwater depends on exposure.  To what extent are you touching, inhaling, eating, or drinking contaminated soils or groundwater?

According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), young children are most at risk for ingesting (i.e. eating) soils, and therefore, should not play in dirt with elevated levels of lead.  Adults, on the other hand, can often limit their exposure to contaminated soils by wearing gloves, washing their hands and wiping their feet when they come inside, and by taking other common-sense precautions to avoid ingesting or tracking contaminated soils into the home.

If you have a private drinking water well, you should have your well tested for toxic metals, including arsenic and lead. 

If you suspect that your soils or groundwater have been contaminated by legacy orchard operations, you may want to talk to an environmental lawyer to find out what legal rights you may have. The federal Superfund law, CERCLA, the main law that governs cleanups of abandoned hazardous waste sites, contains a pesticide exclusion, but whether the exclusion applies depends on the facts and circumstances of any given site. 

Conclusion

Western New York has a rich heritage owed in significant part to the prevalence of the apple industry, but this legacy is not without its environmental consequences. 

The good news is that LA was eventually phased out of orchard operations starting in the late 1940s and has long since been banned.[5] An industry insider has told me that government regulation of pesticide use is now “extremely tight.”

Have an environmental issue in Western or Upstate New York you’re concerned about or want to see covered in my blog? Email me at sdaly@citizenenvironmental.com.

[1] The Apple Bites Back: Claiming Old Orchards for Residential Development, Environ Health Perspect. 2006 Aug, available at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1551991/.

[2] “Nonpoint source arsenic contamination of soil and groundwater from legacy pesticides,” Journal of Environmental Quality (Nov. 2021), available at https://acsess.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jeq2.20304

[3] https://www.lifeinthefingerlakes.com/20-years-apple-touring-wayne-county/

[4] Persistence, phytotoxicity, and management of arsenic, lead and mercury residues in old orchard soils of New York State

Merwin, Ian ; Pruyne, Patrick T. ; Ebel, Joseph G. ; Manzell, Kerry L. ; Lisk, Donald J.

Chemosphere (Oxford), 1994-09, Vol.29 (6), p.1361-1367

[5] By that time, a chemical perceived as more miraculous, DDT, became available, and was considered at the time to be safer and more effective than LA.  Of course, as these things tend to go, DDT would indeed have its own host of problems, but that’s a post for another day.