Jump to content
IndiaDivine.org

E.P.A. Halts Florida CHEERS Test on Pesticides

Rate this topic


Guest guest

Recommended Posts

Guest guest

Hi All,

 

A few days ago, my hubby and I were driving on the interstate and saw

a cropduster plane spaying over lush green fields of an orange grove

and we immediately thought about the sharp rise in serious birth

defects of the children of migrant farm workers. This CHEERS program

that would have " studied " mostly low income African American and

Hispanic families being stopped is definitely a step in a better

direction.

 

Just wanted to share...

 

Love, Kimberly

 

April 9, 2005

E.P.A. Halts Florida Test on Pesticides

By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK

 

WASHINGTON, April 8 - Stephen L. Johnson, the acting administrator of

the Environmental Protection Agency, said on Friday that he was

canceling a study of the effects of pesticides on infants and babies,

a day after two Democratic senators said they would block his

confirmation if the research continued.

 

Rich Hood, a spokesman for the agency, acknowledged that Mr. Johnson

had canceled the test because of the objections to his confirmation.

" They are pretty juxtaposed in time, aren't they? " Mr. Hood said.

" There is clearly a connection. "

 

But Mr. Hood said the opposition was not the only reason for the

cancellation.

 

" Mr. Johnson said in a meeting this morning that, his confirmation

aside, he had come to pose serious questions as to whether or not this

study was the appropriate thing to do, " he said.

 

A recruiting flier for the program, called the Children's

Environmental Exposure Research Study, or Cheers, offered $970, a free

camcorder, a bib and a T-shirt to parents whose infants or babies were

exposed to pesticides if the parents completed the two-year study. The

requirements for participation were living in Duval County, Fla.,

having a baby under 3 months old or 9 to 12 months old, and " spraying

pesticides inside your home routinely. "

 

The study was being paid for in part by the American Chemistry

Council, a trade group that includes pesticide makers.

 

In an interview on Friday, Senator Bill Nelson of Florida, one of two

Democrats who said they would block the confirmation, said the study

amounted to " using infants in my state as guinea pigs. "

 

Mr. Nelson said the study sought to recruit subjects in a poor

neighborhood by offering parents compensation for practices

potentially dangerous to their children.

 

" If you knew smoking caused cancer, " he said, " would you want to have

a study that said, 'Don't do anything, just keep smoking like you are

smoking and we are going to pay you and give you a camcorder so that

you can record all this'? "

 

Financing from the American Chemistry Council added a dangerous

potential conflict of interest, Mr. Nelson said.

 

In a statement explaining the cancellation, Mr. Johnson said he first

halted the study last fall " in light of questions about the study

design " to conduct an independent review.

 

But he attributed the cancellation mainly to mischaracterizations of

the study. Some Democratic critics have portrayed it as deliberately

spraying infants with pesticides.

 

" E.P.A. senior scientists have briefed me on the impact these

misrepresentations have had on the ability to proceed with the study, "

Mr. Johnson said. " E.P.A. must conduct quality, credible research in

an atmosphere absent of gross misrepresentation and controversy. "

 

Mr. Johnson's confirmation was one of several stalemates in a broader

partisan battle over many of President Bush's nominees, including 10

appeals court judges, his selection as commissioner of food and drugs

and his nomination of John R. Bolton, an under secretary of state, as

United States envoy to the United Nations.

 

Mr. Johnson's acquiescence, however, is unlikely to alter the broader

standoff. Senator Bill Frist, Republican of Tennessee and the Senate

majority leader, has threatened that Republicans may change the Senate

procedures if Democrats continue to block nominees by refusing the 60

votes needed to close debate on a confirmation. Dr. Frist repeated to

reporters this week that Senate Republicans would not yield in their

determination to see the president's judicial nominees confirmed.

 

Under Senate rules, any senator can put a " hold " on a nominee or

proposal, and 60 votes are required to overturn it, making it similar

to a filibuster.

 

Mr. Nelson said that now that Mr. Johnson had canceled the program he

was prepared to withdraw his hold on Mr. Johnson's nomination and

votefor his confirmation. " I have heard only good things about him, "

Mr. Nelson said. " And I am looking forward to him being a breath of

fresh air to the E.P.A. "

 

A spokeswoman for Senator Barbara Boxer of California, the other

Democrat who put a hold on Mr. Johnson's confirmation, said that Ms.

Boxer would not block a vote on Mr. Johnson, a 25-year employee of the

environmental agency who is the first person with a science background

to be nominated to lead it, but that she had not decided how to vote

on his confirmation.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...