Lawsuit Demands Records Supporting Finding That Spraying Insecticides Across Millions of Western Acres Harms None of Region’s 201 Endangered Species

WASHINGTON— The Center for Biological Diversity sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today for failing to release records documenting its finding that insecticides sprayed across millions of acres in 17 states do not harm any of the area’s 201 endangered plants and animals.

The Service’s assessment of a U.S. Department of Agriculture spray program designed to kill native grasshoppers and crickets was released the night before oral argument in a lawsuit brought by the Center and allies challenging the program’s legality.

“The public deserves to see the science underpinning the Service’s dubious conclusion that drenching millions of acres with deadly insecticides won’t harm a single endangered species,” said Lori Ann Burd, environmental health director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “The agency’s failure to release all the records that supposedly support the decision inspires no confidence that they got this right. We’re going to court to find out what happened and make sure the rare birds, frogs, fish and butterflies who live in these areas get the protection they need to survive.”

The pesticide program is overseen by the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, a secretive USDA agency that allows widespread rangeland spraying of multiple insecticides known to be harmful to many of the region’s protected species.