Agricultural News
EPA Has Approved Enlist Duo- Moving the Battle To the Judicial Arena
Fri, 17 Oct 2014 12:55:09 CDT
The Natural Resources Defense Council has filed a lawsuit seeking to reverse EPA approval of Enlist Duo produced by Dow Chemical Company. The NRDC filed the lawsuit claiming Enlist Duo would destroy monarch butterfly populations and pose a risk to human health. NRDC senior scientist Sylvia Fallon stated the approval was bad news for butterflies "whose migrating population has dropped by more than 90 percent in recent years because glyphosate has wiped out the milkweed they need to survive." Glyphosate is one of the ingredients in Enlist Duo, along with 2,4-D, another existing herbicide. The NRDC filed its lawsuit Wednesday in the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit the same day EPA announced approval.
Other environmental groups criticized the EPA for the approval. Earthjustice accused the agency of ignoring potential harm to humans and wildlife from the herbicide, and said it would evaluate legal options to challenge the decision. "Giving a chemical company the green light to bring a known harmful weed killer to market for use on millions of acres of crops puts public health and the environment in danger," said the Environmental Working Group. The Organic Consumers Association and Just Label It said they were disappointed. The product was widely studied by the EPA and EPA officials stated that Enlist Duo passed their rigorous test. Dow said it plans to start selling the product next year.
At this moment, there are six states where Enlist Duo can be used, including Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin. To prevent pesticide "drift," farmers will have to leave a 30-foot-wide no-spray buffer in fields where the herbicide is used, spray it only from ground equipment and to forgo spraying if winds are above 15 mph. Dow also will be required to carry out extensive surveys of weed reaction to the chemical and to educate growers about superweeds.
EPA is accepting comment until November 14 on whether to approve the herbicide for use in Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Tennessee and North Dakota.
EPA released a informational sheet on their decision to approve this combination of 2,4 D and Glyosphate- click here to jump to their website to access it.
Dow has a website dedicated to Enlist- click here to go there.
Finally- the Environmental Working Group contends that the 2,4 D component of Enlist should not be allowed to be sprayed anywhere close to schools- and that there are thousands of school that could fall into an Enlist buffer zone. Click here for their analysis of this contention.
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