Insecticide
Newly confirmed interior secretary suppressed information on pesticide risks, documents show
When Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke stepped down in January amid multiple ethics probes, his deputy secretary, David Bernhardt, filled in. Now, as the longtime oil and agribusiness lobbyist formally takes the reins at the Interior Department, criticism is mounting over alleged conflicts of interest and government documents indicate that Bernhardt interfered with a key US Fish and Wildlife Service report that detailed the risks pesticides can pose to endangered species.
Organophospates
Every year, the U-S uses more than a billion pounds of pesiticides to exterminate rodents and insects, weed our lawns and protect crops. Recent research on one class of insecticides — organophosphates — may lead to restrictions on their use. LOE’s Daniel Grossman reports from a Washington state orchard.