Critics of Dow Herbicide Ingredient Sue U.S. EPA Over Approval

A coalition of U.S. farmer and environmental groups filed a lawsuit on Wednesday seeking to overturn regulatory approval granted last week for a herbicide developed by Dow AgroSciences.

October 22, 2014 | Source: Reuters | by Carey Gillam

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 A coalition of U.S. farmer and environmental groups filed a lawsuit on Wednesday seeking to overturn regulatory approval granted last week for a herbicide developed by Dow AgroSciences.

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in California, argues that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) did not adequately analyze the impact of one of the new herbicide’s active ingredients, 2,4-D, before granting approval on Oct. 15 to Dow’s Enlist Duo herbicide.

The groups are asking the court to set aside the EPA’s approval.

Widespread use of 2,4-D carries a range of risks to human health, animals, and the environment, the groups allege. They claim the EPA’s approval violated both the Endangered Species Act and the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act.

“They did not do an adequate job,” said Andrew Kimbrell, an attorney with the Center for Food Safety, a plaintiff in the case. “This was a rubber stamp. They acted illegally in approving this.”

The National Resource Defense Council filed a similar action on Oct. 16 against the EPA to block Enlist Duo, saying the new weed killer will be destructive to monarch butterfly populations and pose risks to humans.

The herbicide developed by Dow AgroSciences, a unit of Dow Chemical Co, is to be used with new genetically modified corn and soybean crops developed by Dow to tolerate treatments of the herbicide.

The Enlist crops were approved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture last month. When used in combination with the new herbicide, the Dow products should help farmers combat severe weed problems hurting U.S. crop production, according to Dow and government officials.