A coalition of farm and environmental groups has filed a lawsuit in federal district court for the Northern District of California in San Francisco challenging permits from USDA' s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service that would allow the immediate planting of a genetically engineered sugar beet seed crop. The coalition of organic seed growers and conservationists is represented by Earthjustice and attorneys from the Center for Food Safety.
Last month, Judge Jeffrey White vacated APHIS's deregulation of the biotech sugar beet variety, making it illegal to plant, and required APHIS to prepare an environmental impact statement. According to the coalition, the court found that APHIS had ignored the requirements for assessing the crop's environmental impacts.
At issue is a sugar beet seed that has been genetically engineered to tolerate applications of glyphosate herbicides. The coalition contends that the constant application of glyphosate herbicides also accelerates development of resistant weeds, "now found on millions of acres of U.S. farmlands, leading to further increased use of the chemical and of other, even more toxic herbicides."
The plaintiffs have asked the court to issue a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction enjoining the issuance of the permits and any planting pursuant to them.
Speaking last week at a function in North Dakota, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said USDA is working to help settle matters over the biotech sugar beets, although it is not clear at this time whether farmers will be allowed to grow the glyphosate-resistant beets in 2011.
Vilsack noted the request for an injunction against USDA approving a "partial deregulation" that may have been left open by the court in a first decision. "At this point we're now in a process of having to do the environmental assessments that are required, but at the same time are trying to convince the court to proceed on a partial deregulation and on approval under certain exceptions. The courts are going to decide that. We can't force the courts. We'll proceed until we're told not to," Vilsack said.
He noted the situation underscores the necessity to figure out a way for organic, conventional and genetically engineered crop producers to coexist. USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is now considering a "partial" approval, and has also begun work on an environmental impact statement needed for a more permanent approval, but that can take up to two years to complete.
About 4.5 million short tons of the 7.8 million tons of sugar produced in the U.S. last year came from sugar beets. Of that, 95 percent were genetically engineered.
