Environmental Groups Sue to Protect Endangered Species from Pesticides
Environmental groups are pressing on in their fight to protect endangered species from pesticides, after a federal judge dismissed their lawsuit in April.
The Center for Biological Diversity and Pesticide Action Network North America have re-fild their legal complaint against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to address procedural issues, according to a press release.
From the Center for Biological Diversity:
This case would require the EPA to consult with federal wildlife agencies to create measures that would protect numerous endangered and threatened species from pesticides already known to be toxic to wildlife.
鈥淔or decades the EPA has ignored the disastrous effects pesticides can have on endangered species,鈥 said Justin Augustine, an attorney at the Center. 鈥淲e鈥檙e doing everything we can to force EPA to follow the law and ensure that harmful chemicals don鈥檛 get into the habitats of the nation鈥檚 most vulnerable wildlife.鈥
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More than a billion pounds of pesticides are used annually in the United States, and the EPA has approved, or 鈥渞egistered,鈥 more than 18,000 different pesticides for use. There is evidence of widespread contamination of groundwater, drinking water and wildlife habitats throughout the country.
For decades the EPA has registered pesticides without input from expert federal agencies to evaluate harmful impacts to wildlife, failing to initiate formal consultations required under the Endangered Species Act. The consultation process can result in restrictions on some of the most harmful pesticide uses while identifying viable alternatives. For particularly harmful pesticides, the EPA or registrant may choose to take the product off the market.
Certain childhood cancers, birth defects, neurodevelopmental disorders and a host of other human-health harms linked to environmental chemical exposures are all on the rise. Meanwhile species are dying off at more than 1,000 times the normal background rate, and pollinators and other indicator species susceptible to pesticides, such as amphibians, are suffering dramatic declines.
