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The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is violating the law by failing to turn over records related to President Donald Trump’s executive order protecting the production of the controversial pesticide glyphosate, according to a lawsuit filed Monday.
The lawsuit, filed by the Center for Biological Diversity, seeks to force the USDA to comply with a Freedom of Information Act request filed by the Center on February 26 for records on how and why the order was developed.
“The main thing we want to understand is, specifically, who was driving this,” said Brett Hartl, director of government affairs at the Center for Biological Diversity, a nonprofit organization that advocates for environmental and health issues.
“The main thing we want to understand is, specifically, who was driving this?” – Brett Hartl, Center for Biological Diversity
The order was widely questioned by public health and environmental groups who saw the Trump administration’s actions as directly benefiting Germany’s Bayer, which makes glyphosate in the United States and is a major supplier of glyphosate-based herbicides such as Roundup. Glyphosate herbicides have been linked to health problems such as cancer, and Bayer is currently fending off tens of thousands of lawsuits brought by people suffering from cancer caused by exposure to its products.
Bayer is lobbying for federal and state laws to protect it from further lawsuits, and is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to rule on key claims in the lawsuit.
The Supreme Court’s decision could be announced this week and will determine whether people can now have legal claims against pesticide companies if they fail to warn.
defense production act
The February order was issued under the Defense Production Act, citing national security. The order calls for the defense of both glyphosate and elemental phosphorus, which are raw materials for the production of controversial white phosphorus weapons.
According to the World Health Organization, white phosphorus can cause deep, severe burns that penetrate into the bones. As such, its specific use is regulated by international humanitarian law.
Bayer is currently the only company that produces both elemental phosphorus and glyphosate domestically.
The Center for Biological Diversity notes that the executive order’s language is unique in that it provides “immunity” to chemical companies that produce glyphosate.
“One of the things we’ve seen from the agrochemical industry that’s currently being challenged in the Supreme Court is that one of their very clear goals is to try to insulate themselves through immunity clauses in as many ways as possible,” Hartl said.
“Records that shed light on critical issues like the health of our environment are of great public interest,” Gunita Singh, who works as a staff attorney for the Reporters Committee for a Free Press, wrote in an email.
“At a time when the environmental crisis is on the minds of so many, relevant agencies should engage thoughtfully with requesters to release non-exempt information into the public domain in order to foster robust debate, rather than leaving us in the dark,” Singh added.
Asked about a specific timeline for a response, a USDA spokesperson said the agency does not comment on pending litigation.
Hartl is confident he will receive records from the lawsuit in the next two to three months as the center seeks greater transparency regarding its decisions. “It’s important to understand who is benefiting from a particular government policy, because it reveals who is not benefiting from that policy,” Hartl said.
Photo by Wesley Tingey unsplash
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Julie Zenderoudi is an editorial intern at The New Lede. She is a Brooklyn-based science journalist and master’s student in New York University’s Science, Health, and Environmental Reporting Program (SHERP). She previously worked for Canada’s public broadcaster CBC News, producing interview segments and commentary videos for the national broadcaster. Her work has appeared in Slate, Offrange, Prism, The Brooklyn Paper, and more.
