The EPA failed to consult with the Interior Department over the risk to endangered species before approving use of the Monsanto weedkiller dicamba on GE cotton and soybeans, say four farm and environmental groups in a federal lawsuit. The groups want the U.S. appellate court in San Francisco to order the EPA to consider again if the herbicide merits approval.
EPA approved two formulations of dicamba last fall that Monsanto says are far less volatile, meaning less chance of the weedkiller drifting onto neighboring fields and damaging crops. There were hundreds of complaints of dicamba drift last year. Some growers were suspected of illegally using earlier versions of dicamba on the new GE cotton and soybean because there was no EPA-approved version available.
“Federal regulators have abandoned the interests of farmers, the environment, and public health,” said George Kimbrell of the Center for Food Safety and a lawyer in the case. The plaintiffs — the National Family Farm Coalition, Pesticide Action Network, Center for Biological Diversity, and the Center for Food Safety — say dicamba, promoted as an alternative weedkiller to glyphosate, is a risk to crops, pollinating insects and animals.