
EDF SUES MAJOR DDT MANUFACTURER IN CALIFORNIA 
On 22 Oct. 70, EDF filed suit in Los Angeles Federal District Court to compel the Montrose Chemical Corporation to 
stop discharging DDT with their effluent into the Los Angeles sewer system, which then empties into Santa Monica Bay and 
the Pacific Ocean. The Montrose plant in Torrance produces about 100 million pounds of DDT annually. It is the world’s 
largest DDT manufacturer. The Los Angeles County Sanitation District was also named as a defendant. 
For years scientists have been puzzled by the extremely high levels of DDT contamination along the coast of Southern 
California as compared with other marine environments. Some fish from Santa Monica Bay carry more than 1,000 parts per 
million (ppm) of DDT in their livers, whereas fish from the San Francisco Bay Area, which drains most of California’s 
agricultural regions, contain only a few ppm. Shipments of mackerel caught off Southern California have been seized by the 
Food and Drug Administration because they exceeded the tolerance limit for DDT. 
As a result of DDT contamination the fish eating brown pelicans have been laying eggs with shells so thin that they 
collapse when the birds try to incubate them. The nesting grounds have been littered with broken eggs and virtually no chicks 
have been fledged. This once common bird is now threatened with extinction in Southern California. Several other species, 
including the double-crested cormorant, ashy petrel, and common murre, have been similarly affected. Investigation finally 
revealed that Montrose has been discharging several hundreds to 1,000 pounds of DDT residues daily into the Los Angeles 
sewer system. This rate of discharge is more than sufficient to cause such environmental damage. 
EDF’s suit seeks an injunction against the continued discharge of DDT, charging the defendants with violating the 
public trust, the Refuse Act, the applicable water quality standards, several fish and wildlife laws, the National Environmental 
Policy Act, the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (by contaminating food fish), the U.S. Constitution, and several other laws. 
The hazards of DDT to birds, fish and human health (carcinogenesis and mutagenesis) were outlined in the complaint. 
November 1970 — Environmental Defense Fund Newsletter 
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CORNELL UNIVERSITY LAUNCHES PROGRAM TO BREED RAPTORS 
In October, the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology began the construction of a new $101 ,000 facility to breed daytime 
birds of prey under artificial conditions. The long-term goal of the projects is to breed Peregrine falcons for re-introduction 
into areas where they have been extirpated as breeding birds. It is also planned to include other declining species as the 
Cooper’s Hawk, Red-shouldered Hawk, and Prairie Falcon. 
The attainment of these long range goals is at least a decade away, as it will take at least ten years to build up a captive 
population of breeding birds since captive falcons do not begin to lay eggs until they are five years old. However, the birds 
have already been successfully bred in captivity in Germany and several other nations. 
Dr. Tom Cade, Research Director, has been studying falcons for 25 years and says that the Peregrine has been 
extirpated as a breeding bird from all parts of its range on the Atlantic Coast to the Mississippi. Only remnant populations 
now remain along the west coast, in Alberta, and in the Rocky Mountains: and even some of the remote populations in 
Alaska and the arctic are beginning to show a decline. 
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED FOR FLOWER SHOW 
Illinois Audubon Society Exhibit for The World Flower and Garden Show — March 20 to 28, 1971. 
Help is needed this year as IAS has an individual exhibit at the Flower Show. If you can help, any day, during the 
show, for either of the two shifts, 11 A.M. to 5:30 P.M., or 5:30 P.M. to 10 P.M., please drop a card to Mrs. Wallace 
Kirkland, 822 Linden Avenue, Oak Park, Illinois 60302, or phone 383-1755. 

VERY LITTLE MERCURY FOUND IN ILLINOIS PHEASANTS — The Illinois Natural History Survey reports that ‘‘any 
fears Illinois hunters might have about the pheasants they bag being contaminated with dangerous levels of mercury can be 
put aside . .. as our pheasants appear to be relatively free of this highly poisonous heavy metal.’’ The FDA has recently set a 
tolerance of 1/2 ppm mercury in fish, but none has been set for poultry or game birds. Of the pheasants examined by the 
Survey this summer, 85 percent had levels of 1/10 ppm; however the Survey points out that since mercury occurs naturally in 
the environment, small amounts might be expected to be present. 




























