10
Jun
(Beyond Pesticides, June 10, 2025) An industry-led campaign to quash lawsuits against chemical manufacturers because of their “failure to warn” about the hazards of their pesticide products has failed to move forward in nine state legislatures with significant GOP majorities (Iowa, Missouri, Idaho, Florida, Tennessee, Mississippi, Wyoming, Montana, and Oklahoma). As the Making America Healthy Again (MAHA) Commission released its first report to assess the root causes of childhood diseases and adverse health conditions, there continues to be an ongoing fight among forces within the Trump Administration on whether pesticides should even be mentioned. (See here for The New York Times coverage.) As federal funding cuts make their way through the Budget Reconciliation process, communities around the country are calling on their elected officials to protect their right to sue pesticide manufacturers with failure-to-warn claims; in an era of deregulation and ongoing failure of our regulatory agencies to assess potential associated harms, advocates demand the preservation of this legal right. Status Report on State-Level Legislation The only state that has active legislation, as of today’s writing, is North Carolina. The failure-to-warn language was inserted into the annual state Farm Bill package (SB 639) in Section 19, leading to public outcry in the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on […]
Posted in Bayer, Corporations, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Failure to Warn, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Label Claims, Litigation, Mississippi, Missouri, Monsanto, Montana, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Preemption, Tennessee, Uncategorized, Wyoming | No Comments »
28
Jun
(Beyond Pesticides, June 28, 2022) There is a strong connection between pesticide use and cancer rates in the Western United States, finds research recently published by scientists at University of Idaho and Northern Arizona University. Two studies (here and here) published in the peer-reviewed journal GeoHealth used geospatial data and publicly available pesticide databases to uncover the relationship between chemical heavy agricultural practices and cancer in both adults and children. As the rate of chronic diseases like cancer continue to increase in the United States, and more and more studies find these diseases to be pesticide-induced, it is imperative for the public to put increased pressure on regulators and lawmakers to enact meaningful measures that eliminate pesticide use and the hazards these chemicals pose. Of the two studies conducted by the research team, the first study modeled the connection between pesticide use and cancer incidence for adults and children in 11 western states (Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming), while the second study focuses on childhood cancer rates in Idaho’s 44 counties. Both studies utilized databases established by public entities, including U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Pesticide National Synthesis Project database, EPA Pesticide Industry […]
Posted in Arizona, California, Cancer, Children, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Uncategorized, Utah, Washington D.C., Water, Wyoming | No Comments »
29
Apr
(Beyond Pesticides, April 29, 2010) Pest control officials in Wyoming are prepared to spray swaths of U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) property with insecticide if the state experiences a grasshopper outbreak this summer as predicted by officials. Based on adult grasshopper surveys conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service(APHIS) unit in fall 2009, APHIS is expecting that the 2010 summer season of grasshopper infestations will be significantly higher than past seasons. It is estimated that 6.7 percent or 1.2 million acres of the 18 million acres of lands in Wyoming administered by the BLM are currently threatened by a predicted infestation of grasshoppers. Pest control officials consider outbreak levels to be about 15 grasshoppers per square yard – enough to cause economic problems. Such an infestation, according to BLM, would result in substantial loss of vegetation and ground cover that is vital to providing food and habitat to wildlife and livestock populations and maintaining properly functioning ecosystems. While the insects are native to Wyoming, outbreaks of certain pest species can be problematic because of their voracious appetites for grass. In discussions with APHIS and local county weed and pest districts, the BLM […]
Posted in Grasshoppers, Wyoming | No Comments »
01
Jun
(Beyond Pesticides, June 1, 2009) Many believe that nature’s best weed control is goats and that is why the Maryland Department of Transportation, town of Heampstead, New York, Google Corporate office campus in Mountain View, California, Mesa, Arizona Utilities Department and City of Cheyenne, Wyoming are putting goats to work this spring. Whether its 5 or 700 goats managing weeds, brush and grasses along highways, on a nature preserve, on a corporate campus or on a water reclamation plant property, goats are doing the work in an environmentally-friendly way. Goats eat unwanted plants, add fertilizer to the area and aerate the soil with their hooves, all at the same time. They show up every day to work, never complain, and they are tireless in performing their job. Maryland Department of Transportation The Maryland Department of Transportation’s State Highway Administration (SHA) had a major dilemma — how to mow the turf amid the meadows and bogs that protect the threatened Bog Turtle around a major highway bypass in the state. The best solution — use goats as lawn mowers. In late May, SHA enlisted a herd of 40 goats from a local farmer to begin a conservation grazing project on approximately […]
Posted in Alternatives/Organics, Arizona, California, Disease/Health Effects, Invasive Species, Lawns/Landscapes, Maryland, State/Local, Wyoming | 2 Comments »
20
Feb
(Beyond Pesticides, February 20, 2007) With little oversight from the federal government, a myriad of chemicals are being injected underground in the name of energy exploration in the West. Among these chemicals, biocides are considered to pose a serious threat to environmental and public health. Hydraulic fracturing, known as “fracking” or “frac’ing” for short, is the process approximately 90 percent of oil and gas wells in the U.S. undergo to facilitate extraction. Biocides are used to kill microorganisms that can interfere with other fluids and methods used to stimulate extraction, and to prevent corrosion to pipes. Thousands of wells are popping up over Wyoming, Montana, Colorado, and New Mexico, many of which are located on private property, and some directly adjacent to homes. Many property owners do not own adequate mineral rights to what lies under their land and are rendered powerless to stop energy exploration. With minimal federal oversight, wells, roads and pipelines are established rapidly in these areas bringing heavy traffic, noisy equipment, and air, soil and water pollution. In 2005, the oil and gas industry was granted an exemption from the Safe Drinking Water Act, allowing the injection of toxic fluids directly into groundwater without oversight by […]
Posted in Chemicals, Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, Water, Wyoming | 4 Comments »
