May
2000
Environmental
Justice: Working to Stop Malathion Spraying
By Joel R. Kupferman
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Last September, the City of New York began a
massive spray campaign that quickly expanded to surrounding counties
in New
York, Connecticut and New Jersey. Mayor Rudolph Giuliani claimed he
was responding to a major health emergency, an "epidemic"
of a mosquito-borne encephalitis. The reality is that his own Department
of Health, in a bulletin to the public, described West Nile Fever as
a "mild illness," and put an individual’s chance of falling
ill at one in 300,000. Giuliani also claimed that the pesticides being
sprayed from helicopters and trucks were "absolutely safe."
He was immediately warned by Attorney General Elliot Spitzer’s
office that such claims are illegal.
Malathion (a.k.a. Fyfanon ULV) and the synthetic pyrethroids (Scourge,
Anvil) cannot be described as "safe." They are neuro-toxic
agents and hormone disrupters—so they’re bad for everyone.
But they are likely to have an even greater negative impact on anyone
with asthma or compromised respiratory systems, AIDS or weakened immune
systems, or cancer; and on pregnant women, very young and elderly people,
or people with chemical sensitivities. In addition, these chemicals
are implicated in serious illnesses, from cancer to neurological disorders,
many of which can appear years after exposure. Risk builds with repeated
exposure—and our local and state governments are considering applying
pesticides every summer.
Malathion, already banned in Japan, is an organophosphate pesticide.
It is currently being re-evaluated by the Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) for classification as a human carcinogen. At present, a growing
body of research is revealing the immune-suppressing effects of malathion
and the synthetic pyrethroids. The developing nervous systems of children
are particularly vulnerable: if their brain cells are destroyed, irreversible
damage can result, producing long-term problems such as learning disabilities.
Environmental Laws Were Violated
Despite the dangers, the City carried out an indiscriminate program
of spraying pesticides over its residents for weeks on end, violating
federal environmental laws by not:
• obtaining any emergency order;
• adequately or reliably notifying the public about spray schedules;
• publicly disclosing health risks posed by pesticides;
• attempting to provide for persons experiencing exposure-related
symptoms through appropriate advisories to hospitals and doctors;
• collecting any information about exposure-related symptoms and
illness;
• following directions on the labels of the pesticides (specifically
stating, in the case of malathion, that the product must not be stored
in temperatures above 77 degrees Fahrenheit, and must not be sprayed
in winds above 10 mph); and
• avoiding bodies of water, in violation of both the Clean Water
Act and the New York State Department of Environment Conservation’s
(NYS DEC) regulations, thus putting at risk not only the ecology of
our waterways, but the safety of our drinking water.
All of the above constitute violations of federal environmental laws—the
regulations that the EPA is charged with enforcing.
What are We Doing About it?
On October 12, 1999, the New York Environmental Law and Justice
Project filed an Intent to Sue on behalf of the NY Greens, the National
Coalition Against Pesticide Misuse and other groups. We are bringing
suit under the Citizen Provision of the Clean Water Act and the Resource
Conservation Recovery Act. The Pace University Environmental Law Clinic,
a forerunner in Clean Water actions, will act as co-counsel on the federal
case.
We filed three Freedom of Information Act requests with the City and
its agencies, the Department of Health and the Office of Emergency
Management.
We have to date received either no information or minimal responses,
or have been referred elsewhere for information that, by law, should
be in the City’s possession. Just as it had done when residents,
physicians, members of the press and elected officials sought even the
most basic information (names of the pesticides, the spray schedule,
the Material Safety Data Sheets—information we were all legally
entitled to), the City has stonewalled.
We intend to trigger the EPA to carry out an investigation of past
violations, and to take on its federally mandated role to force the
City, state
and counties to comply with the law in any future actions. At every
public forum, each time the safety of these pesticides and their manner
of use is challenged, City, county and state officials take cover by
invoking the EPA. They always state that they used these pesticides
because they—and the directions on their labels—are EPA-approved.
Ultimately, we want the EPA to face the facts, not the ones handed to
them by the chemical companies, but the reality of what these chemicals—applied
all around us, in the air we breath, the food we eat, and the buildings
we live, work and go to school in—do to our bodies in deadly combinations
and concentrations that no one is measuring. We want them phased out.
The allies we make at the EPA now will be critical not only to that
effort, but to any environmental injustices we may face, as a community,
a city and a region in the future.
What You Can Do
Several EPA officials have been responsive to the allegations and
asked that we bring them strong evidence. We are in an excellent position
to compel the EPA to prevent a recurrence of last fall’s toxic
bombardment of New York City, but we must have your affidavits now.
If you inhaled spray directly or had skin contact; if spraying caught
you by surprise; if your job required you to be outside and you could
not take precautions to limit your exposure; if you became ill as a
result of the spraying; if you observed spraying above or at the edges
of a body of water, please contact us immediately.
Family physician Joel Popson has joined the project as Medical Director
and expert advisor. Popson is working with us on a plan to gather information
from people who have become ill and to take blood samples to document
acute exposure to Malathion, and will record individual testimonies
of those affected.
Joel R. Kupferman, Esq. is the Executive Director and Joel
Popson M.D. is the Medical Director of the New York Environmental Law
and Justice Project. To learn more, give testimony or help with the
lawsuit, contact: NYELJP, 315 Broadway, Suite 200, NYC 10007; Tel: (212)
766-9910.
