Originally published November 26 2014
US farmers, environmentalists sue EPA for 'illegally' approving Dow's deadly 2,4-D herbicide
by L.J. Devon, Staff Writer
(NaturalNews) In one fell swoop, the Environmental Protection Agency officially became the Environmental Holocaust Kingpin when they approved Dow's deadly new Enlist Duo. This new two-headed monster herbicide is comprised of Monsanto's gut-wrenching, gut-microbe-destroying glyphosate and Dow's endocrine-disrupting, neurologically damaging 2,4-D weedkiller. The new herbicide is designed specifically for use on Dow's recently approved genetically modified corn and soybean crops. These new Dow GM seeds were recently approved by the USDA and are engineered to tolerate Dow's matching Enlist Duo herbicide.
Top environmental groups to challenge the EPA in court
In one decision, the EPA will allow tens of millions of acres of farmland to be poisoned, as Enlist Duo is unleashed. The chemical runoff will likely impact entire ecosystems. Enlist Duo is now approved for use in Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin. Another 10 states await approval. With one stroke of a pen, the EPA has allowed Big Chemical to unleash its most toxic combination herbicide into the environment since DDT.
The independent Environmental Working Group has been warning about the deadly consequences if these chemicals were approved. In a petition to the EPA, they state, "We need to do everything we can to make sure the EPA keeps this toxic weed killer away from our food and out of our environment." Sadly, the EPA didn't listen, as the independent scientific community came up short in keeping herbicidal hell from entering the environment.
Now, farmers and environmental groups are filing a lawsuit to overturn the EPA's dangerous and contradictory ruling. The lawsuit was filed in the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in California and questions why the active ingredients in the new 2,4-D combination were not adequately analyzed before being quickly approved on October 15. The lawsuit calls on the court to block the EPA's approval, citing that widespread use of the herbicide poses a grave threat to the health of the environment, animals, and humans. The groups also claim that the approval violates both the Endangered Species Act and the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act.
"This was a rubber stamp. They acted illegally in approving this," said Andrew Kimbrell, attorney for the Center for Food Safety. CFS is joined by Beyond Pesticides, the Center for Biological Diversity, the National Family Farm Coalition, the Pesticide Action Network of North America and the Environmental Working Group.
Just one day after the controversial herbicide approval, the National Resource Defense Council filed suit against the EPA, speaking out about the chemical's harm against human health and monarch butterfly populations.
Kicking the can further down the road
Those concerned about the sustainability of agriculture point out that the large-scale use of herbicides has made farming dependent upon the chemicals themselves. Since weeds adapt to the chemicals over time, more chemicals are needed. The reason Enlist Duo was created in the first place was because millions of acres of US farmland have been overtaken by wild weeds that have adapted to become resistant to Monsanto's glyphosate-based Roundup herbicide. Unleashing newer versions of weedkillers only perpetuates the problem and kicks the can further down the road. In the meantime, the country's entire agricultural system hangs in the balance as ecosystem and human health is put into harm's way.
Dow confident the EPA will win
Even with mounting evidence rising against them, Dow AgroSciences isn't worried about the lawsuit, believing in the EPA's ultimate authority. Dow is "confident that EPA thoroughly reviewed" Enlist Duo and believes that they will win in court. The EPA has remained quiet on the issue, knowing full well that 2,4-D has been linked to suppressed immune function and greater risk Parkinson's disease.
It's almost as if the EPA has become the chemical industry's kingpin, running a chemical trafficking holocaust throughout America and the rest of the world.
In the end, human life and the health of the planet is trampled on as a chemical empire is expanded. For now, the general population must cough up the chemicals and tiptoe around the toxic puddles.
Sources:
http://newsdaily.com
http://www.reuters.com
http://action.ewg.org
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