US gov’t body sued over GMO plantings

A coalition concerned about cultivation of genetically modified crops in wildlife refuge areas filed suit against the US Interior Department recently, saying government workers illegally approved the planting.

The lawsuit, in filed at the US District Court in Wilmington, Delaware, seeks to block further cultivation of the crops at the Prime Hook refuge outside Denver, Delaware, Prime Hook is one of more that 500 federal wildlife refuges.

The plaintiff — the Delaware Audubon — said they discovered "a top Bush administration political appointee’ overruled the wildlife refuge manager in allowing the genetically altered crops to be planted on land designated as a national wildlife refuge in violation of department policy.

The genetically modified crops and pesticides associated with growing them can have negative effects on birds, aquatic animals other wildlife and plant species, Gene Docut, a spokesman for Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), said in a statement announcing the lawsuit: "Plowing up native grasses or mutated row crops constitutes biological malpractice of the highest order and a betrayal of the purposes of National Wildlife Refuge System. These refuges are supposed for wildlife, not chemical companies or agribusiness."

As many as 100,000 acres of refuge lands are under cultivation to genetically modified crops, according to agency documents obtained by PEER under the Freedom Information Act. – Antonio Claparols