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First Federal Court Order on Environmental Impacts of Genetically Engineered Crops    [

    Officials Cut Corners With Biotech Crop Permits in Hawaii
    By Tara Godvin
    The Associated Press

    Tuesday 15 August 2006

    Honolulu - A federal judge has ruled that U.S. agriculture officials violated environmental laws in permitting four companies to plant genetically modified crops in Hawaii to produce experimental drugs.

    The order involves plantings of corn or sugarcane on Kauai, Maui, Molokai and Oahu between 2001 and 2003.

    U.S. District Judge Michael Seabright said the Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service flouted both the Endangered Species Act and National Environmental Policy Act by not conducting preliminary environmental reviews before issuing the planting permits.

    The islands are home to 329 rare species - a quarter of all threatened and endangered species in the nation, the judge noted in the order issued late last week.

    Even if the inspection service is correct in its assertion that no habitats or species listed as endangered were harmed by the plantings, the agency's actions still are "tainted" because it failed to comply with a basic procedural requirement, Seabright said.

    EarthJustice, which represents plaintiffs in the cases, said in a news release Monday that the decision is the first federal court ruling involving biofarming.

    Rachel Iadicicco, a spokeswoman for the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, said the agency can't comment on pending litigation but has established procedures to guide it in complying with federal environmental laws.

    The four companies issued the permits were ProdiGene, Monsanto, Hawaii Agriculture Research Center and Garst Seed. All of the companies' plants used to make pharmaceutical crops already have been harvested and the companies have stopped planting the crops under the permits.

    The practice of using genetically engineered food crops to produce proteins that can be turned into medicines has faced growing opposition from farmers, environmentalists and big-time corporate food interests whose businesses might be affected by crop contamination.

    Concerns center around the fear that the altered crops will crossbreed with conventional crops and thereby make it on to the plates of unknowing consumers. But there is also the concern that such crops could hurt local endangered species.

    In his order, Seabright said the service skipped the mandatory step under the Endangered Species Act of gathering information about local listed species and critical habitats. The National Environmental Policy Act also requires federal agencies to evaluate the impact of their actions on the environment.

    Both sides of the case have been ordered to appear in court on Aug. 22 to discuss remedies for the violations.

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    First Federal Court Order on Environmental Impacts of Genetically Engineered Crops
    Earthjustice

    Monday 14 August 2006

Court finds USDA acted in "utter disregard" of the Endangered Species Act.

    Citing possible harm to Hawai'i's 329 endangered and threatened species, a federal district judge has ruled that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) violated the Endangered Species Act (ESA) in permitting the cultivation of drug-producing, genetically engineered crops throughout Hawai'i. The court found that USDA acted in "utter disregard" of the ESA, and also violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), by failing to conduct even preliminary investigations prior to its approval of the plantings.

    The August 10 decision represents the first federal court ruling ever on "biopharming," the controversial practice of genetically altering food crops to produce experimental drugs and industrial compounds. Biopharming has provoked the ire of the food industry, public interest groups, and farmers concerned about contamination of foods and the environment with potent drugs, and potential economic losses from adulterated food. The four USDA-issued permits primarily at issue in the case authorized Monsanto, ProdiGene, Garst Seed Company, and the Hawai'i Agricultural Research Center to plant over 800 acres (1.25 square miles) of drug-producing corn and sugarcane at various sites in Kaua'i, Oahu, Moloka'i, and Maui from 2001 to 2003.

    The plaintiffs in the case - Center for Food Safety, Friends of the Earth, Pesticide Action Network North America, and KAHEA (the Hawaiian-Environmental Alliance) - sued the USDA in November 2003. Plaintiffs were represented by Earthjustice and Center for Food Safety.

    "This decision shows that regulatory oversight of this out-of-control industry has been woefully inadequate. The agency entrusted with protecting human health and the environment from the impacts of genetic engineering experiments has been asleep at the wheel," said Paul Achitoff, attorney with Earthjustice.

    "The ruling is a clear victory for Hawai'i's environment," said Joseph Mendelson, Legal Director of the Center for Food Safety. "It will help protect the islands from the illegal field-testing of genetically engineered, drug-producing crops."

    Plaintiffs point to a scathing critique of USDA's regulation of biopharm and other genetically altered crops issued by the agency's Inspector General in December 2005 as evidence that USDA continues to neglect its regulatory duties. That report documented numerous violations, including USDA's failure to record locations of field trial sites and conduct required inspections. In two instances, USDA regulators were unaware that a total of more than two tons of harvested biopharm crop material was stored at uninspected facilities for over a year.

    Hawai'i is the nation's leading state for plantings of experimental, genetically engineered crops, having hosted more than 5,000 such tests from 1987 through 2004, including several dozen biopharm crop trials. Biopharm crops produce substances such as experimental vaccines, growth hormones, blood-clotting and -thinning agents, antibodies, and industrial enzymes. Two high-profile contamination incidents in 2002, in which biopharm corn produced by ProdiGene contaminated soybeans and corn in Nebraska and Iowa, provoked widespread criticism of the practice, which nevertheless continues.

    Plaintiffs have also challenged USDA's practice of concealing the locations of trials from the public, and in most cases not disclosing the substances being grown in the plants.

    Judge J. Michael Seabright ordered the parties to appear in court on August 22, 2006, to discuss remedies for the government's violations.

    "We will not rest until the federal government prohibits the irresponsible and hazardous field-testing of drug-producing, genetically engineered crops," said Andrew Kimbrell, executive director of Center for Food Safety.