Today NRDC joined a coalition of advocacy groups filing a lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for failing to consider all the risks associated with endosulfan, an extremely hazardous persistant bioaccumulative pesticide and the topic of several previous NRDC blogs.

“When EPA does't consider how a hazardous pesticide could impact the health of children, it is breaking the law,”  Said Mae Wu, health attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).  “The EPA’s approach to reviewing the safety of this chemical is not only flawed and dangerous – but also illegal.  The full scope of endosulfan’s health impacts needs to be a priority, not an afterthought.”

Global calls to ban this dangerous wartime pesticide have been issued from scientists, environmental health advocates, unions and worker advocates, and from Arctic Tribes and Indigenous groups. 

The lawsuit filed today is meant to force EPA to consider the health risks to children, workers, and endangered species, as required by the Endangered Species Act  and the pesticide regulatory statutes (FIFRA and FQPA).

More information on endosulfan can be found at the PANNA website, and the NRDC blog on our Feb 2008 petition to ban endosulfan.

The lawsuit was brought by Earthjustice and Farmworker Justice on behalf of: Alaska Community Action on Toxics, Beyond Pesticides, Center for Environmental Health, Farm Labor Organizing Committee (AFL-CIO), Natural Resources Defense Council, Pesticide Action Network North America, Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste (Northwest Treeplanters and Farmworkers United), Teamsters Local 890 and, United Farm Workers.