AgroPages-Lawsuit: US EPA violated law in approving Dow herbicide-Agricultural news

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency violated the Endangered Species Act by approving a new Dow AgroSciences herbicide without consulting with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, farm and environmental groups charged.

The Center for Food Safety, Earthjustice, National Family Farm Coalition, the Environmental Working Group and others asked the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in a motion filed late Friday to halt the EPA’s approval of Enlist until the agency has consulted with the Fish and Wildlife Service to ensure there is no harm to two endangered species — the whooping crane and the Indiana bat.

The EPA last week rejected a request for a stay pending a review by the court.

“EPA admits that its approval of a toxic pesticide cocktail including 2,4-D for widespread use may affect endangered species, including the whooping crane, one of the most endangered animals on Earth,” said Paul Achitoff, Earthjustice’s managing attorney. “We ask only that the court decide whether EPA has violated the law, as we believe it has before putting these imperiled birds at further risk.”

In October, the EPA approved Dow’s Enlist Duo weed killer, designed to be used with the company’s corn and soybean seeds; the Agriculture Department signed off on it a month earlier. Dow AgroSciences’ seeds are genetically engineered to resist several herbicides, including one known as 2,4-D and glyphosate, the main ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup.

The approval allowed the herbicide to be used in six states, including Iowa and Illinois.

An EPA spokesperson said the agency is reviewing the court filing.

“EPA maintains that it has complied with the Endangered Species Act,” the official said.

Garry Hamlin, a spokesman with Dow AgroSciences, said the company was “confident” that the EPA thoroughly reviewed its product before approving it.

“We support EPA’s registration decision and are confident that the court will deny both the motion to stay and, ultimately, the request to set aside the registration,” Hamlin said.

Critics say the new seed and herbicide combination could lead to environmental and health problems and even more weed resistance. They filed a suit in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit following the EPA decision last year to allow the use of the new weed killer, citing its damage to monarch butterflies and risk to human health.

The D.C. court hasn’t announced a ruling.

The advocacy groups said Monday that EPA analysis has shown that significant exposure to 2,4-D in fields sprayed due to EPA’s registration of Enlist Duo could be toxic for the crane, and that the Indiana bat could suffer reproductive harm by consuming 2,4-D-tainted prey.

Dow AgroSciences worked on its “Enlist Weed Control System” for more than a decade.

The technology not only represents a lucrative market opportunity, which Dow estimates could be worth about $1 billion during the life of the product, but it gives farmers more choices to grow their crops without the weed problems that increasingly are dogging those who depend on Monsanto’s Roundup and other glyphosate sprays.

Dow AgroSciences and Monsanto both have operations in Iowa.