American farmers use chlorpyrifos, a pesticide tied to brain and nervous system issues, on crops such as apples, broccoli, corn, and strawberries. (Photo: Stephanie Chapman/Flickr/cc)
'Finally!': Court Orders EPA to Stop Stalling Potential Ban on Pesticide Tied to Brain Damage in Kids
"We hope Trump's EPA finally decides to protect the future of countless children and the health of millions of farmworkers."
In a ruling welcomed by public health advocates, a federal court on Friday ordered the Trump administration to stop stalling a potential ban on a pesticide linked to brain damage in children, giving regulators until mid-July to make a final decision.
"While we are moving forward, the tragedy is that children are being exposed to chlorpyrifos, a pesticide science has long shown is unsafe."
--Patti Goldman, Earthjustice
Citing unacceptable health risks for children, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ended household use of chlorpyrifos in 2000. However, farmers can still use the pesticide--which is also tied to nervous system problems in people and animals--on crops such as apples, broccoli, corn, and strawberries.
The unanimous ruling (pdf) Friday from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit is the latest development in a drawn out court battle between the EPA--which blocked a planned agricultural ban on chlorpyrifos in 2017--and the anti-pesticide, environmental, and farmworkers organizations who disagreed with that decision.
Earthjustice attorney Patti Goldman, who represents the groups fighting to ban the pesticide from foods, commended the court for its ruling in a statement Friday.
"While we are moving forward, the tragedy is that children are being exposed to chlorpyrifos, a pesticide science has long shown is unsafe," she said. "We hope Trump's EPA finally decides to protect the future of countless children and the health of millions of farmworkers."
Noting that public health advocates have been working to outlaw the pesticide for more than a decade, Natural Resources Defense Council senior attorney Mae Wu said, "All the science says EPA must ban."
\u201c2 years after EPA backtracked from its proposal to ban the neurotoxic pesticide chlorpyrifos (and almost 12 years after @NRDC and PANNA asked for the ban), 9th Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously orders @EPA to decide on the ban in 90 days! All the science says EPA must ban.\u201d— Mae Wu (@Mae Wu) 1555693787
Kristin Schafer, executive director of the Pesticide Action Network, tweeted, "No more delay, [EPA]."
\u201cYes!! The court granted our petition this morn, & set a deadline for EPA to (finally!) take action on the brain-harming pesticide #chlorpyrifos w/in 90 days. No more delay, @EPA. Big thx to our great lawyers @Earthjustice!\nhttps://t.co/ypyqcv44yx\u201d— Kristin Schafer (@Kristin Schafer) 1555696698
Scandal-ridden former EPA chief Scott Pruitt blocked the ban on chlorpyrifos in March of 2017, shortly after he met with the chief executive of Dow Chemical, which has been selling the pesticide for decades and lobbied against restrictions on it.
The appeals court ruled last August that the EPA had illegally impeded the ban and ordered the agency to finalize its proposal. But then, the EPA requested a rehearing, which the court granted in February.
Shortly before the rehearing last month, Goldman explained the legal issues behind the case in a short video:
Environmental Working Group president Ken Cook, in a statement Friday, criticized EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler--who replaced Pruitt--for failing to ban the pesticide and urged him to fulfill the agency's mission to protect human health and the environment.
"We'll find out in three months if the Trump EPA remains under the tight control of the chemical agriculture industry, or if Administrator Wheeler will finally take his job seriously and ban this brain-damaging pesticide," said Cook. "It's deplorable that Wheeler has defied the court's order for almost nine months, and it's time for him to do his job and protect public health."
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. The final deadline for our crucial Summer Campaign fundraising drive is just days away, and we’re falling short of our must-hit goal. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
In a ruling welcomed by public health advocates, a federal court on Friday ordered the Trump administration to stop stalling a potential ban on a pesticide linked to brain damage in children, giving regulators until mid-July to make a final decision.
"While we are moving forward, the tragedy is that children are being exposed to chlorpyrifos, a pesticide science has long shown is unsafe."
--Patti Goldman, Earthjustice
Citing unacceptable health risks for children, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ended household use of chlorpyrifos in 2000. However, farmers can still use the pesticide--which is also tied to nervous system problems in people and animals--on crops such as apples, broccoli, corn, and strawberries.
The unanimous ruling (pdf) Friday from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit is the latest development in a drawn out court battle between the EPA--which blocked a planned agricultural ban on chlorpyrifos in 2017--and the anti-pesticide, environmental, and farmworkers organizations who disagreed with that decision.
Earthjustice attorney Patti Goldman, who represents the groups fighting to ban the pesticide from foods, commended the court for its ruling in a statement Friday.
"While we are moving forward, the tragedy is that children are being exposed to chlorpyrifos, a pesticide science has long shown is unsafe," she said. "We hope Trump's EPA finally decides to protect the future of countless children and the health of millions of farmworkers."
Noting that public health advocates have been working to outlaw the pesticide for more than a decade, Natural Resources Defense Council senior attorney Mae Wu said, "All the science says EPA must ban."
\u201c2 years after EPA backtracked from its proposal to ban the neurotoxic pesticide chlorpyrifos (and almost 12 years after @NRDC and PANNA asked for the ban), 9th Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously orders @EPA to decide on the ban in 90 days! All the science says EPA must ban.\u201d— Mae Wu (@Mae Wu) 1555693787
Kristin Schafer, executive director of the Pesticide Action Network, tweeted, "No more delay, [EPA]."
\u201cYes!! The court granted our petition this morn, & set a deadline for EPA to (finally!) take action on the brain-harming pesticide #chlorpyrifos w/in 90 days. No more delay, @EPA. Big thx to our great lawyers @Earthjustice!\nhttps://t.co/ypyqcv44yx\u201d— Kristin Schafer (@Kristin Schafer) 1555696698
Scandal-ridden former EPA chief Scott Pruitt blocked the ban on chlorpyrifos in March of 2017, shortly after he met with the chief executive of Dow Chemical, which has been selling the pesticide for decades and lobbied against restrictions on it.
The appeals court ruled last August that the EPA had illegally impeded the ban and ordered the agency to finalize its proposal. But then, the EPA requested a rehearing, which the court granted in February.
Shortly before the rehearing last month, Goldman explained the legal issues behind the case in a short video:
Environmental Working Group president Ken Cook, in a statement Friday, criticized EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler--who replaced Pruitt--for failing to ban the pesticide and urged him to fulfill the agency's mission to protect human health and the environment.
"We'll find out in three months if the Trump EPA remains under the tight control of the chemical agriculture industry, or if Administrator Wheeler will finally take his job seriously and ban this brain-damaging pesticide," said Cook. "It's deplorable that Wheeler has defied the court's order for almost nine months, and it's time for him to do his job and protect public health."
In a ruling welcomed by public health advocates, a federal court on Friday ordered the Trump administration to stop stalling a potential ban on a pesticide linked to brain damage in children, giving regulators until mid-July to make a final decision.
"While we are moving forward, the tragedy is that children are being exposed to chlorpyrifos, a pesticide science has long shown is unsafe."
--Patti Goldman, Earthjustice
Citing unacceptable health risks for children, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ended household use of chlorpyrifos in 2000. However, farmers can still use the pesticide--which is also tied to nervous system problems in people and animals--on crops such as apples, broccoli, corn, and strawberries.
The unanimous ruling (pdf) Friday from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit is the latest development in a drawn out court battle between the EPA--which blocked a planned agricultural ban on chlorpyrifos in 2017--and the anti-pesticide, environmental, and farmworkers organizations who disagreed with that decision.
Earthjustice attorney Patti Goldman, who represents the groups fighting to ban the pesticide from foods, commended the court for its ruling in a statement Friday.
"While we are moving forward, the tragedy is that children are being exposed to chlorpyrifos, a pesticide science has long shown is unsafe," she said. "We hope Trump's EPA finally decides to protect the future of countless children and the health of millions of farmworkers."
Noting that public health advocates have been working to outlaw the pesticide for more than a decade, Natural Resources Defense Council senior attorney Mae Wu said, "All the science says EPA must ban."
\u201c2 years after EPA backtracked from its proposal to ban the neurotoxic pesticide chlorpyrifos (and almost 12 years after @NRDC and PANNA asked for the ban), 9th Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously orders @EPA to decide on the ban in 90 days! All the science says EPA must ban.\u201d— Mae Wu (@Mae Wu) 1555693787
Kristin Schafer, executive director of the Pesticide Action Network, tweeted, "No more delay, [EPA]."
\u201cYes!! The court granted our petition this morn, & set a deadline for EPA to (finally!) take action on the brain-harming pesticide #chlorpyrifos w/in 90 days. No more delay, @EPA. Big thx to our great lawyers @Earthjustice!\nhttps://t.co/ypyqcv44yx\u201d— Kristin Schafer (@Kristin Schafer) 1555696698
Scandal-ridden former EPA chief Scott Pruitt blocked the ban on chlorpyrifos in March of 2017, shortly after he met with the chief executive of Dow Chemical, which has been selling the pesticide for decades and lobbied against restrictions on it.
The appeals court ruled last August that the EPA had illegally impeded the ban and ordered the agency to finalize its proposal. But then, the EPA requested a rehearing, which the court granted in February.
Shortly before the rehearing last month, Goldman explained the legal issues behind the case in a short video:
Environmental Working Group president Ken Cook, in a statement Friday, criticized EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler--who replaced Pruitt--for failing to ban the pesticide and urged him to fulfill the agency's mission to protect human health and the environment.
"We'll find out in three months if the Trump EPA remains under the tight control of the chemical agriculture industry, or if Administrator Wheeler will finally take his job seriously and ban this brain-damaging pesticide," said Cook. "It's deplorable that Wheeler has defied the court's order for almost nine months, and it's time for him to do his job and protect public health."