BioCycle September 2011, Vol. 52, No. 9, p. 18
Tree damage, not persistence in compost, is reason for pulling the plug.
Dan Sullivan
Related articles from the BioCycle Archive:
DuPont Label Says “Do Not Compost” Grass Clippings, June 2011
The Aminopyralid Challenge Continues, June 2011
Persistent Pesticide As Organics Recycling Foe, August 2010
Certified Organic Compost Under The Gun In California
Clopyralid Levels Decline, But Controversy Continues
THE United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) sent a letter to DuPont August 11, 2011, ordering it “to immediately halt the sale, use or distribution of Imprelis, an herbicide marketed to control weeds that has been reported to be harming a large number of trees, including Norway spruce and white pine.” The order, issued under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), requires DuPont to stop selling and distributing Imprelis in the United States and outlines specific steps to ensure its removal from the marketplace.
Imprelis – containing the active ingredient aminocyclopyrachlor – was approved for use by the U.S. EPA in August 2010 to control broadleaf weeds in turf grass. According to DuPont officials, the product had undergone more than 400 trials prior to sale. Imprelis was never approved for use in New York or California, which each has its own review procedures for new herbicides. New York was concerned the active ingredient did not bind with soil and so held the potential to run off, contaminate groundwater and damage non-target plants. California did not complete its review.
BioCycle published a special report on Imprelis in June, focusing primarily on label restrictions related to composting. Language on page 7 of a 9-page label instructed commercial pesticide applicators – the only ones allowed to handle the product – not to compost grass clippings taken off of areas treated with Imprelis. Prior to the Imprelis recall, DuPont and The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company had been working together on a residential weed and feed product also containing aminocyclopyrachlor. That ingredient remains at large in other DuPont products – used for treating bare soil and for roadside and utility weed and brush control – including Perspective, Plainview, Streamline and Viewpoint. The U.S. EPA did not immediately return phone calls questioning the fate of these products.
Around the same time BioCycle published its report (mid-June), Extension agents from the Midwest to the East Coast began reporting widespread tree damage and death – particularly to balsam fir, Norway spruce and white pine – in areas where Imprelis had been applied. A class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of homeowners across the country who had contracted with professional lawn services that used Imprelis could reach into the billions of dollars. DuPont sent a letter to professional applicators June 17 cautioning against use of Imprelis where Norway spruce or white pine were present or nearby. The company acknowledged to the U.S. EPA on July 27 that damaged trees had been linked to Imprelis and developed a web page to provide information and updates concerning its use. DuPont issued what it couched as a “voluntary recall” of Imprelis on August 4, as that month’s issue of BioCycle went to press. Exactly one week later, the U.S. EPA issued its official Stop Sale Order. The action followed U.S. EPA’s investigation into why a large number of evergreens and other trees have been harmed following the use of the herbicide.
DEFECTIVE PRODUCT LITIGATION
The national law firm Parker, Waichman and Alonso, LLP, which specializes in defective product liability litigation and complex consumer class actions, has filed suit on behalf of client groups in Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Iowa, and Minnesota and plans to file additional actions in Wisconsin, Illinois, Kansas and South Dakota. “The damage has already been done, but the recall does stop the bleeding,” said Jordan Chaikin, a partner in the firm, which has handled such recent high-profile cases as toxic Chinese-manufactured drywall and defective hip replacements. Since the U.S. EPA had already threatened a stop-sale order in a letter to DuPont dated August 3, Chaikin questioned the company’s so-called “voluntary” action, but says it was the right thing to do. Initially, DuPont did everything but take responsibility, he said. “They tried to shift the blame and said ‘It’s not us.’ The landscapers didn’t follow directions or they mixed it with other herbicides, or they tried to blame it on the weather. That’s nonsense. Manufacturers are always shifting blame and looking to point a finger.”
Chaikin noted that some of the damaged trees are more than 60 years old and 80 feet high. “The epicenter of the damage caused by Imprelis is Ohio, with several other Midwestern states heavily affected. We have one Ohio homeowner who planted a tree 50 years ago when her daughter was born. It sits in middle of her property and is dying because of Imprelis.” The U.S. EPA continues to assess whether the now more than 7,000 reports of damaged or killed trees are the result of product misuse, inadequate warnings and label use directions, persistence in soil or plant material, uptake through root systems and absorption into plant tissue, environmental factors, potential runoff issues or other causes.
At press time DuPont sent out a notice stating it would replace trees or provide cash compensation to property owners with approved claims. The company also pledged to provide for the removal and disposal of trees identified as unlikely to recover. A DuPont fact sheet stated removed trees should be used as lumber, firewood or landfilled but not chipped for use as mulch or compost. While Ohio State research quoted in BioCycle showed half the active ingredient in Imprelis remaining in compost after 200 days, DuPont’s fact sheet states that areas treated with the herbicide before June 1 may be replanted with trees after October 1, and that areas treated between June 1 and June 30 may be replanted after November 1. “As an additional precaution, do not use Imprelis-treated soil to backfill around newly planted trees,” the document cautions.
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) sent a letter to DuPont August 11, 2011, ordering the company “to immediately halt the sale, use or distribution of Imprelis, an herbicide marketed to control weeds that has been reported to be harming a large number of trees, including Norway spruce and white pine.” The order, issued under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), requires DuPont to stop selling and distributing Imprelis in the United States and outlines specific steps to ensure its removal from the marketplace.
Imprelis – containing the active ingredient aminocyclopyrachlor – was approved for use by the U.S. EPA in August 2010 to control broadleaf weeds in turf grass. According to DuPont officials, the product had undergone more than 400 trials prior to sale. California and New York declined to allow its use after tests showed an inability to bind with soil, thus raising a red flag for potentially contaminating groundwater and damaging non-target plants.
BioCycle published a special report on Imprelis in June, focusing primarily on label restrictions related to composting. Language on page 7 of a 9-page label instructed commercial pesticide applicators – the only ones allowed to handle the product – not to compost grass clippings taken off of areas treated with Imprelis. Prior to the Imprelis recall, DuPont and The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company had been working together on a residential weed and feed product also containing aminocyclopyrachlor. That ingredient remains at large in other DuPont products – used for treating bare soil and for roadside and utility weed and brush control – including Perspective, Plainview, Streamline and Viewpoint. The U.S. EPA did not immediately return phone calls questioning the fate of these products.
Around the same time that BioCycle published its report (mid-June), Extension agents from the Midwest to the East Coast began reporting widespread tree damage and death – particularly to balsam fir, Norway spruce and white pine – in areas where Imprelis had been applied. A class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of homeowners across the country who had contracted with professional lawn services that used Imprelis could reach into the billions of dollars. DuPont sent a letter to professional applicators June 17 cautioning against use of Imprelis where Norway spruce or white pine were present or nearby. The company acknowledged to the U.S. EPA July 27 that damaged trees had been linked to Imprelis and developed a web page to provide information and updates concerning its use. DuPont issued what it couched as a “voluntary recall” of Imprelis August 4, as that month’s issue of BioCycle went to press. Exactly one week later, the U.S. EPA issued its official Stop Sale Order. The action followed U.S. EPA’s investigation into why a large number of evergreens and other trees have been harmed following the use of the herbicide.
“DEFECTIVE PRODUCT” LITIGATION
The national law firm Parker, Waichman and Alonso, LLP, which specializes in defective product liability litigation and complex consumer class actions, has filed suit on behalf of client groups in Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Iowa, and Minnesota and plans to file additional actions in Wisconsin, Illinois, Kansas and South Dakota. “The damage has already been done, but the recall does stop the bleeding,” said Jordan Chaikin, a partner in the firm, which has handled such recent high-profile cases as toxic Chinese-manufactured drywall and defective hip replacements. Since the U.S. EPA had already threatened a stop-sale order in a letter to DuPont dated August 3, Chaikin questioned the company’s so-called “voluntary” action, but says it was the right thing to do. Initially, DuPont did everything but take responsibility, he said. “They tried to shift the blame and said ‘It’s not us.’ The landscapers didn’t follow directions or they mixed it with other herbicides, or they tried to blame it on the weather. That’s nonsense. Manufacturers are always shifting blame and looking to point a finger.”
Chaikin noted that some of the damaged trees are more than 60 years old and 80 feet high. “The epicenter of the damage caused by Imprelis is Ohio, with several other Midwestern states heavily affected. We have one Ohio homeowner who planted a tree 50 years ago when her daughter was born. It sits in middle of her property and is dying because of Imprelis.”
The U.S. EPA continues to assess whether the now more than 7,000 reports of damaged or killed trees are the result of product misuse, inadequate warnings and label use directions, persistence in soil or plant material, uptake through root systems and absorption into plant tissue, environmental factors, potential runoff issues or other causes.
Another big question is what to do with all the affected turf and trees, and how long the chemical will remain persistent in the soil. An Ohio State researcher quoted in the June BioCycle special report said 60 percent of the active ingredient remained in compost after 200 days, enough to do damage to a number of susceptible garden plants including beans, cucumbers and tomatoes.
