Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, District of Columbia, and West Virginia: Form to Contact Mayors
It is time for all local governments and school districts to stop the use of glyphosate/Roundup and other toxic pesticides in our communities. The last month has seen a level of activity that supports immediate action. Two more juries came in with verdicts that the herbicide caused plaintiffs' non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) —this time handing the manufacturer, Monsanto/Bayer, a bill for $80 million ($5 million in compensatory damages and $75 million in punitive damages), and then a judgment for $2 billion, including $55 million in damages for a married couple.
Insurance companies are now backing away from Roundup. Harrell's is a company that sells chemical pesticides, synthetic fertilizers, and “adjuvants and colorants,” among other products, primarily to golf courses, and to the horticulture-nursery, turf, and landscape sectors. The company announced on March 11 that it stopped selling products containing glyphosate as of March 1, 2019 because neither its current insurance company nor others the company consulted would underwrite coverage for the company for any glyphosate-related claims.
Harrell's CEO stated: “During our annual insurance renewal last month, we were surprised to learn that our insurance company was no longer willing to provide coverage for claims related to glyphosate due to the recent high-profile lawsuit and the many thousands of lawsuits since. We sought coverage from other companies but could not buy adequate coverage for the risk we would be incurring. So we had no choice other than to notify our Harrell's Team and customers that we would no longer offer products containing glyphosate.”
The announcement stands in contrast to a Fox Business story shortly after the verdict in the Johnson v. Monsanto case. That article reported that, “Top U.S. retailers such as Home Depot, Target, Walmart and Amazon are sticking by Monsanto's controversial weedkiller Roundup one week after a California jury awarded a school groundskeeper $289 million for proving the spray caused him to develop non-Hodgkin lymphoma.” Indeed, insurer (and perhaps re-insurer) concern may well increase in light of the deluge of lawsuits glyphosate use has triggered.
Meanwhile scientific studies linking glyphosate to serious adverse effects still keep coming in. A recent study by Fabiana Manservisi, Corina Lesseur, et al., published in Environmental Health on March 12, shows glyphosate-based herbicides are associated with endocrine and reproductive effects. This is on top of the scientific findings by the World Health Organization that the chemical probably causes cancer. A meta-study in February 2018 concluded that there is a “compelling link between exposures to GBH [glyphosate-based herbicides] and increased risk of NHL.” Still, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency fails to act.
On March 1, the City of Miami established a ban, which went into immediate effect, on the use of any glyphosate-based herbicides (including Roundup compounds) by the city and any of its contractors.
It is time to stop glyphosate use or risk continued exposure to the state's populations and adverse health effects, along with the financial exposure that the threat of litigation brings.
Beyond Pesticides and other organizations that have worked for many years to educate stakeholders and policy makers about the dangers of pesticides, stand ready to assist communities in transforming pest management by eliminating a reliance on toxic pesticides and adopting organic management practices.
>> Tell your local government to act now to stop the use of glyphosate/Roundup and adopt organic land management practices.
NOTE to our network: We are using a database that enables us to target local officials like mayors. However, the site at this time limits our access to jurisdictions by population size. If your local government does not pop-up for this action, please copy and paste the letter and send to your local elected officials.