The International Center for Technology Assessment has filed for an immediate injunction aimed at halting current and future field tests of genetically engineered creeping bentgrass. The motion comes in response to a recent study by scientists at the Environmental Protection Agency that found the pollen from the engineered grass had contaminated like species miles from test plots. Directed at Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman, and others, the Motion for a Preliminary Injunction seeks to enjoin the USDA from allowing or approving any further plantings of the bentgrass within ongoing field tests; to order it to revoke and terminate all such current permits within 30 days; to direct permittees to remove all test plantings; and to order USDA to not grant any new permits or other approvals for any proposed future field tests of the bentgrass.
“The EPA confirmed that engineered bentgrass has hybridized with wild plants,” said Peter Jenkins, staff attorney for Center for Technology Assessment. “With this finding, it’s clear that USDA must get the remaining test plants out of the ground as soon as possible and stop the approval of new field tests for this grass. If the agency doesn’t agree, we’re confident the courts will.”
In a ground-breaking study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the EPA found evidence of long-distance gene flow from test fields of the genetically engineered, glyphosate tolerant creeping bentgrass. In some instances, genes from the wind-pollinated, perennial and highly outcrossing bentgrass were found to have contaminated resident plants up to nine miles from the test plots and sentinel, non-engineered bentgrass plants up to 13 miles from test sites. The result was the creation of hybrid, herbicide-tolerant grasses that will spread and harm national grasslands and forests and other natural areas.
“This is a bioengineered tragedy of the commons,” said Lesley Adams with the Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center. “Companies like Monsanto should not benefit from experimental grass test plots like the one in central Oregon while federal agencies admit they have the potential to contaminate all of our country’s national forests and grasslands. The engineered bentgrass is a grave danger to public lands across the country.”
Background
In January of 2003, International Center for Technology Assessment, Center for Food Safety and other individuals and organizations filed a lawsuit in federal court seeking to halt field trials of engineered bentgrass until the USDA completed full environmental review prior to allowing such field trials. The case is currently pending before the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and has been delayed by the USDA’s refusal to hand over preliminary documents used by the agency to review the safety of the engineered grass field trials. The lawsuit can be viewed here.
Monsanto, Inc., and Scotts Co. have been trying unsuccessfully since May 2002, to get approval from U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Biotechnology Regulatory Service for the highly controversial herbicide-resistant creeping bentgrass. Creeping bentgrass is a common golf course turf used on greens, fairways, and tee areas, and is broadly recognized as an invasive, non-native weed itself.
Because the grass has already invaded public lands around the country, commercial approval of the genetically engineered variety has been opposed by the two largest Federal land management agencies, the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). By engineering the bentgrass to be resistant to Monsanto’s leading weed killer, or Roundup, the companies have effectively stripped the land management agencies of the primary tool at their disposal for controlling the weed on public lands.
View Injunction
