EPA Broke Law Making Secret Deals with Industry

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http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/021905W.shtml

 

EPA Broke Law Making Secret Deals with Industry

The Natural Resources Defense Council

 

Thursday 17 February 2005

 

Private meetings with chemical companies violate federal laws

requiring an open process.

 

Washington - The Environmental Protection Agency is illegally

negotiating secret agreements with industry lobbyists over pesticide

regulation, according to a lawsuit filed today by NRDC (the Natural

Resources Defense Council). The lawsuit specifically cites private

agreements between the agency and chemical companies over the

regulation of atrazine, one of the most heavily used weed-killers in

the country, and DDVP, a highly toxic insecticide. NRDC contends the

agreements have undermined public health safeguards by failing to

restrict the use of these dangerous chemicals.

 

" The EPA's secret, backroom deals with pesticide makers are

clearly against the law, and they're a threat to our health, " said

NRDC attorney Aaron Colangelo. " EPA is required to make independent

decisions on pesticide safety, instead of negotiating deals with the

chemical industry. "

 

According to government records obtained by NRDC through a Freedom

of Information Act lawsuit, EPA officials met secretly more than 40

times with representatives from atrazine's main manufacturer,

Syngenta, while the agency was evaluating the weed-killer's toxicity.

Ultimately the agency agreed to allow atrazine to stay on the market

even though the chemical has contaminated drinking water sources

across the country. (See January 2004 NRDC backgrounder for more

information.) The EPA also has been involved in private negotiations

with the chemical company Amvac over the status of the insecticide

DDVP (dichlorvos), which it sells under a number of trade names,

including " No-Pest Strips. " These negotiations violate EPA's

regulations and federal law, specifically the Federal Insecticide,

Fungicide and Rodenticide Act, the Federal Advisory Committee Act, and

the Freedom of Information Act, according to NRDC's lawsuit.

 

" These deals are bad for public health, bad for the environment,

and bad for democracy, " said Erik D. Olson, an NRDC senior attorney.

Olson noted that more than 20 years ago NRDC sued the agency for

similar widespread violations committed under EPA Administrator Ann

Gorsuch. After Gorsuch and other EPA officials resigned amid

allegations of improper industry influence, William Ruckelshaus

replaced Gorsuch and settled NRDC's case in 1984, agreeing to strict

regulations that forbid secret meetings and private deal-making. " EPA

apparently is back to its old bad habits, " Olson said.

 

The regulations prompted by NRDC's 1983 lawsuit require open and

transparent decision-making when the EPA is registering high risk

pesticides or has placed them in " special review, " which calls for a

prompt evaluation of their safety. These regulations forbid EPA from

making a final decision based on negotiations with industry, and

require the agency to make such decisions independently. In addition,

if the agency establishes a group of outside advisors, the Federal

Advisory Committee Act requires it to create a balanced advisory

committee that meets in the open and is not " inappropriately

influenced " by " any special interest. " Today's suit charges that EPA

has ignored these requirements in its atrazine and DDVP negotiations.

 

Atrazine is used on most of the corn and sugarcane grown in the

United States and has been detected in the drinking water of more than

a million Americans at levels higher than EPA's safety standard.

Scientific studies have found that atrazine can damage the

reproductive system and cause higher rates of cancer.

 

The European Union recently banned atrazine because of pervasive

drinking water contamination. Instead of restricting or banning

atrazine in the United States, however, the EPA recently negotiated an

agreement that only requires Syngenta to monitor streams and drinking

water supplies for contamination. Under this deal, Syngenta will test

fewer than 4 percent of the streams identified by the EPA as being at

highest risk for atrazine contamination.

 

DDVP is one of a class of chemicals called organophosphates, which

are neurotoxins that were originally developed as chemical weapons

during World War II. DDVP causes permanent nervous system damage in

young test animals, and may cause related abnormalities in exposed

infants and children. Exposure to DDVP also can cause uncontrollable

sweating, nausea, dizziness, muscle tremors, and even death. Despite

the risks, EPA is privately negotiating with DDVP's manufacturer Amvac

to allow the company to continue to sell this nerve poison for many

home and agricultural uses.

 

The lawsuit was filed today in federal court in Washington, D.C.

NRDC is represented in the case by Colangelo, Olson, and the public

interest law firm Meyer & Glitzenstein.

 

The following documents show some of the negotiations between the

EPA and industry lobbyists. These are just a small sample of the

hundreds of documents NRDC has obtained that provide evidence of these

illegal negotiations.

 

Atrazine 1: Report of a joint EPA and Syngenta work group that

negotiated the " safe " level of environmental contamination of atrazine.

 

Atrazine 2: Report of a second EPA and Syngenta work group that

negotiated an atrazine water monitoring plan that ignores more than 96

percent of the " most potentially vulnerable watersheds. "

 

Atrazine 3: Example of a private meeting between EPA and Syngenta

(July 10, 2003) to negotiate a monitoring plan in lieu of regulation.

 

Atrazine 4: Email presenting a proposed deal between EPA and

Syngenta on watershed monitoring.

 

Atrazine 5: Negotiations between EPA and Syngenta regarding

atrazine regulation (unlawfully withheld from the public docket for

more than 18 months).

 

Atrazine 6: Final negotiated agreement between EPA and Syngenta,

Dow, and other chemical manufacturers regarding the regulation of

atrazine.

 

DDVP 1: Negotiations between EPA and Amvac to jointly " craft the

terms and conditions " of DDVP risk mitigation.

 

DDVP 2: EPA staff email regarding ongoing negotiations with Amvac.

 

DDVP 3: EPA staff email regarding negotiations with Amvac over

potentially risky " pest strip " uses of DDVP.

 

DDVP 4: EPA staff email discussing " verbal agreement " with Amvac

regarding which uses of DDVP will be allowed.

 

DDVP 5: Small sample of EPA calendar entries noting frequent

meetings with Amvac regarding DDVP risk management.

 

DDVP 6: EPA memo noting four additional meetings with Amvac

regarding DDVP risk mitigation.

 

The Natural Resources Defense Council is a national, non-profit

organization of scientists, lawyers and environmental specialists

dedicated to protecting public health and the environment. Founded in

1970, NRDC has more than 1 million members and e-activists nationwide,

served from offices in New York, Washington, Los Angeles and San

Francisco. More information is available through NRDC's Web site. [an

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