Environmental, food policy and small farm advocacy groups in the USA have filed the latest in a series of lawsuit against producers of genetically modified crops. Last Wednesday, The Centre for Food Safety et al. Filed a suit against the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, demanding it end the cultivation of genetically modified crops on wildlife refuges in eight Midwestern states, including Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio and Wisconsin.

The groups claim the wildlife agency broke the law by entering agreements with farmers that allowed GM crops to be planted on refuges without conducting environmental reviews as required.

The groups behind the lawsuit took issue with the growing of herbicide resistant crops on the refuges, cultivation of which they claim will foster the growth of superweeds in the environmentally sensitive areas and may spread transgenic traits to surrounding plant life. The lawsuit is the fourth in a series of legal challenges, which the plaintiffs say is aimed at ending the planting of biotech crops on wildlife reserves.

On filing the lawsuit, Paige Tomaselli, an attorney for the Center for Food Safety, proclaimed, "National Wildlife Refuges are sanctuaries for migratory birds, native grasses, and endangered species; allowing pesticide-promoting, GE (genetically engineered) crops degrades these vital ecosystems and is antithetical to the basic purpose of our refuge system. Worse still is approval without meaningful review of these crops' impacts."

The groups behind the claims allege the US government violated the National Environmental Policy Act as well as wildlife protection laws by failing to do a complete environmental impact statement before allowing the biotech crops to be planted in refuge areas. The Fish & Wildlife Service had no immediate response to the lawsuit.

The plaintiffs, mostly environmental NGOs, expressed concern at the amount of glyphosate herbicide which would be used on the crops; they claim the heavy use of glyphosate would degrade the soil ecosystem, pollute wetlands, streams, lakes, and rivers of the sensitive areas.

Environmental, food policy and small farm advocacy groups in the USA have filed another lawsuit against producers of genetically modified crops. Last Wednesday, The Centre for Food Safety et al. Filed a suit against the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, demanding it end the cultivation of genetically modified crops on wildlife refuges in eight Midwestern states, including Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio and Wisconsin.

The groups claim the wildlife agency broke the law by entering agreements with farmers that allowed GM crops to be planted on refuges without conducting environmental reviews as required.

The groups behind the lawsuit took issue with the growing of herbicide resistant crops on the refuges, cultivation of which they claim will foster the growth of superweeds in the environmentally sensitive areas and may spread transgenic traits to surrounding plant life. The lawsuit is the fourth in a series of legal challenges, which the plaintiffs say is aimed at ending the planting of biotech crops on wildlife reserves.

On filing the lawsuit, Paige Tomaselli, an attorney for the Center for Food Safety, proclaimed, "National Wildlife Refuges are sanctuaries for migratory birds, native grasses, and endangered species; allowing pesticide-promoting, GE (genetically engineered) crops degrades these vital ecosystems and is antithetical to the basic purpose of our refuge system. Worse still is approval without meaningful review of these crops' impacts."

The groups behind the claims allege the US government violated the National Environmental Policy Act as well as wildlife protection laws by failing to do a complete environmental impact statement before allowing the biotech crops to be planted in refuge areas. The Fish & Wildlife Service had no immediate response to the lawsuit.

The plaintiffs, mostly environmental NGOs, expressed concern at the amount of glyphosate herbicide which would be used on the crops; they claim the heavy use of glyphosate would degrade the soil ecosystem, pollute wetlands, streams, lakes, and rivers of the sensitive areas.