Congressman Peter DeFazio, D-4th District, is continuing his campaign to ban two poisons used to control predators.

His Washington office announced Tuesday that he had introduced H.R. 4775, which would ban Compound 1080 and sodium cyanide devices known as M-44.

M-44 is legal in Oregon to fight predators such as coyotes. Compound 1080 is not registered for use in Oregon.

"Both of these poisons have been called super poisons by the FBI, and have been cited as lethal toxins likely to be used by terrorists to harm Americans," DeFazio said in a statement. "These poisons have sickened dozens of humans, and have killed many more pets and wildlife over the years."

Compound 1080 is tasteless, odorless and colorless and has no antidote: one teaspoon can kill up to 100 human adults.

After widespread misuse and abuse of Compound 1080 in the 1950s and 1960s, and the deaths of 13 people who ingested the poison, the EPA banned Compound 1080 in 1972. It was re-approved for use in the "Livestock Protection Collar" - collars containing the poison that are placed around the necks of sheep and burst when punctured by a predator, barbed wire, or other sharp object - in 1985. Each of these collars contains enough poison to kill six adult humans.

Sodium cyanide is used in a spring-activated device called M-44, which delivers a dose of the poison when an animal pulls up on it.

A small pipe is driven into the ground and then loaded with the ejector and a sodium cyanide capsule. The top of the ejector is wrapped with an absorbent material that has been coated with a substance that attracts canines.

In 2004, Rep. DeFazio wrote then-Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge and asked him to again ban Compound 1080. The Bush Administration failed to act on this request, and in 2005, DeFazio introduced legislation in the House of Representatives to ban the poison. The Republican Congress failed to act on the legislation before the completion of the 109th Congress.

Since then, DeFazio has written numerous letters to the EPA and other federal agencies - most recently in November - urging them to ban Compound 1080.

The new legislation, if passed, would halt the poisons once and for all.