TUCSON, Ariz. (CN) — The Center for Biological Diversity on Thursday expanded a lawsuit against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service over the use of pesticides that harm endangered species and critical habitats, raising the number of pesticides it's suing over from two to six.
Fish and Wildlife began consultation over two pesticides, chlorpyrifos and diazinon, in 2017. But by 2022, it still hadn’t issued a final biological opinion on the effects the two pesticides might have on endangered species and critical habitats across the country. The Environmental Protection Agency determined that same year that the pesticides in question have harmful effects on wildlife, but Fish and Wildlife went five years without an answer. So, the Center for Biological Diversity sued Fish and Wildlife in 2022 for dragging its feet.
Fish and Wildlife denied the accusations in court.
The EPA studied the effects of four other pesticides — carbaryl, methomyl, atrazine, and simazine — in 2019, finding they have similar effects to the two mentioned in the lawsuit. The center amended its complaint Thursday, adding those pesticides to the list.
Center advocates said in a statement that the pesticides named in the lawsuit threaten up to 97% of all endangered species.
“From rusty patched bumblebees to Florida panthers, hundreds of plants and animals are really suffering while they wait for basic protections from toxic pesticides,” said Lori Ann Burd, environmental health director at the center. “The Endangered Species Act is incredibly effective, but it can’t stop extinctions if the agency tasked with protecting wildlife refuses to do its job.”
Fish and Wildlife can regulate the use of the pesticides by authority of the Endangered Species Act if it finds them to be environmentally harmful in its final biological opinion.
In its research, the EPA found that 97% of the more than 1,800 endangered species are likely to be harmed by the use of chlorpyrifos and 78% are likely to be hurt by diazinon. Between 55% and 91% of endangered species are likely to be harmed by the use of the other four pesticides, the agency found.
Fish and Wildlife was apparently ready to release its initial analysis of chlorpyrifos and diazinon in 2017 when the release was blocked by a Donald Trump-appointed Department of the Interior nominee, according to a New York Times investigation.
"The science is clear that these pesticides are a serious threat to imperiled plants and animals, and many of them are so dangerous they’ve been banned in other countries. But federal wildlife officials just aren’t putting measures in place to protect our native wildlife,” Burd said in the press release. “The ongoing failure of our federal wildlife agency to protect vulnerable critters from these poisons leaves us no choice but to take them to court.”
The six pesticides named in the lawsuit are used on a variety of crops across the country, and have been known to pose threats to humans as well as animals. Chlorpyrifos and carbaryl have been linked to developmental problems in children and chlorpyrifos has been banned on food uses in California, Hawaii, Maryland, New York and Oregon.
Atrazine is linked to a range of hormonal and birth defects and has been banned in Europe for more than a decade.
The center sued Fish and Wildlife this past May over a similar issue, citing a petition to regulate the use of 12 pesticides across the country that has awaited action from Fish and Wildlife for five years.
Fish and Wildlife declined to comment on the most recent filing.
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