From: Robina Suwol
Date: 08 Feb 2004
Time: 17:38:39
Remote Name: 68.189.216.37
Beyond Pesticides/National Coalition Against the Misuse of Pesticides
701 E Street, SE, Washington DC 20003
202-543-5450 (voice), 202-543-4791 (fax)
info@beyondpesticides.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 15, 2004
Contact: Jay Feldman
202-543-5450
EPA Sued For Allowing Unacceptable Pesticide Risks to Farmworkers
(WASHINGTON, D.C.) Farmworker groups filed a lawsuit yesterday against the
Environmental Protection Agency for approving the reregistration of two
organophosphate pesticides, azinphos-methyl (AZM) and phosmet, that they say
continue to poison workers, their children, communities and the environment.
Azinphos-methyl and phosmet are highly toxic neurotoxins routinely used in the
United States which can major short- and long-term illnesses including
dizziness, vomiting, seizures, paralysis, loss of mental function, and death.
Farmworker children and people who live within one quarter-mile of fields have
four to five times more chemicals in their bodies from exposure to
organophosphates, including AZM, than other individuals. More than 75% of
reported poisonings occur either when farmworkers are exposed to pesticides that
drift away from where they are applied, or when workers are exposed to pesticide
residues, often upon re-entering treated fields. Farmworker families and
communities are further exposed to organophosphates through "take-home"
exposures on clothing, cars, and skin that then get trapped indoors or closed
living quarters.
The lawsuit was filed in federal district court in Seattle by attorneys with
Beyond Pesticides/National Campaign Against the Misuse of Pesticides (NCAMP),
Earthjustice, Farmworker Justice Fund, California Rural Legal Assistance, and
the Natural Resources Defense Council on behalf of Sea Mar Community Health
Centers, United Farm Workers of America (UFW), Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del
Noroeste (PCUN), and Frente Indígena Oaxaqueña Binacional.
"There were severe deficiencies in the re-registration of both AZM and phosmet,"
says Jay Feldman, Executive Director of Beyond Pesticides. "We expect nothing
less than a complete ban of these pesticides from the market."
The plaintiffs are arguing that the EPA has continued to allow uses of the
pesticides without considering the. They also argued that EPA's cost-benefit
analysis was skewed toward the estimated economic value of using the two
pesticides and failed to adequately quantify the magnitude of the risks posed to
workers, their children, communities, and the environment. They further claim
that EPA discounted the use of safe and proven alternatives and used
industry-generated data without subjecting it to the light of public scrutiny.
"It is outrageous that EPA authorized the use of these pesticides, putting
thousands of workers at risk of serious illness every year," said Erik Nicholson
of the United Farm workers of America. "These two pesticides can poison so many
farm workers that EPA found the risks unacceptable, but the agency still allowed
them to be used."
"We are asking the federal district court to overturn EPA's unlawful
authorization of these extremely toxic pesticides," said Patti Goldman, an
attorney for Earthjustice, "and to force EPA to consider the magnitude of the
harm to workers, and proven alternatives that are less harmful to farm workers
and communities."
This action comes on the heals of an updated report focused on California called
Fields of Poison 2002 released in September 2002 by Pesticide Action Network
North America (PANNA) and two of the groups involved in the lawsuit. The report
reveals that pesticide safety laws fail to protect many of the state's 700,000
farm workers from poisonings even when the laws are
apparently followed.
AZM and phosmet are mostly used to kill pests on orchard crops such as apples,
cherries, pears, preaches, and nectarines. The highest uses occur in Washington,
Oregon, California, Michigan, Georgia, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.