FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:            FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Thursday, March 3, 2005              Will Everitt, Toxics Action Center 207-671-1315 (cell)

                                                            Matthew Davis, Environment Maine 207-253-1965

                                                            Vivian Newman, Sierra Club 207-594-7534

                                                            Jay Feldman, Beyond Pesticides 202-543-5450

                                                            Josh Kratka, Natl. Envtl. Law Center 617-747-4333

JASPER WYMAN & SON FACES CLEAN WATER ACT LAWSUIT

FOR Spraying Maine Waterways With Toxic Pesticides

Four Environmental Groups Send Notice Of Intent To Sue Largest U.S.

Supplier Of Premium Wild Blueberry Products

Notice Letter Follows Wyman’s Refusal To Join Cherryfield Foods

In Abandoning Aerial Spraying

            Four state and national environmental groups announced today they intend to sue Jasper Wyman & Son, the largest U.S. supplier of premium wild blueberry products, for discharging pesticides into rivers and streams in violation of the federal Clean Water Act.

            In a formal notice letter sent today to Wyman, Toxics Action Center, Environment Maine, Beyond Pesticides, and Sierra Club allege that Wyman has violated the Clean Water Act each time that pesticides it has sprayed have drifted into surface waters.  The groups allege that Wyman does not have a permit to discharge pesticides into waterways, as required under the Clean Water Act.

            The groups sent a similar letter to Wyman competitor Cherryfield Foods, Inc., in August 2004.  Before any lawsuit was filed, however, Cherryfield committed in writing to halt all aerial pesticide spraying. 

            The environmental groups met with Wyman officials this past November seeking a commitment similar to Cherryfield’s, but the company indicated that it would neither give up aerial spraying nor agree to be regulated under the Clean Water Act.  Wyman claims to manage over 7,000 acres of wild blueberries.

            “Pesticides are designed to kill living things.  They should not be sprayed into Maine’s rivers unless they can pass the strict environmental review process required by the Clean Water Act,” said Will Everitt, Maine Field Director, Toxics Action Center.

            According to the groups’ letter, studies conducted by the Maine Board of Pesticides Control over the past five years show that the active ingredients in three different pesticides – phosmet, propiconazole, and fenbuconazole – landed directly in the Narraguagus River and its tributaries after being sprayed from Wyman aircraft.  The Narraguagus is home to endangered Atlantic salmon.

            “Wyman should follow the lead of Cherryfield Foods and agree to stop aerial spraying,” said Matthew Davis, Advocate for Environment Maine.  “Wyman has left us no choice but to start the process of filing a Clean Water Act lawsuit,” Davis added.

            Wyman brought a senior official of the American Farm Bureau Federation, a Washington, D.C. lobbying organization for agribusiness interests, to its November meeting with the groups.  “Wyman rolled out the heavy Washington artillery, so we’re anticipating Wyman will be making this a national fight,” said Vivian Newman, Conservation Chair of the Maine Chapter of the Sierra Club.

            According to Jay Feldman, Executive Director of Beyond Pesticides, regulation of pesticide discharges under the Clean Water Act is important because other environmental laws do not require the same level of scrutiny with respect to water pollution.  “There is no substitute for getting into the nitty-gritty of how a particular pesticide will affect a particular water body,” Feldman said.  Also, according to Feldman, the Clean Water Act invites public participation.  “The Clean Water Act permitting process will allow those who use Maine’s natural resources to weigh in and say ‘we don’t want toxic chemicals in our water,’” Feldman added.

            The groups hope that subjecting aerial spraying to Clean Water Act scrutiny will result in, among other things, an examination of the effect of pesticides on salmon migration patterns, schooling behavior, endocrine systems, juvenile and sexual development, food supply, and habitat.

Toxics Action Center helps citizens in Maine and across New England clean up and prevent pollution. 

Environment Maine advocates for clean air, clean water and open spaces on behalf of 3,000 members statewide. 

Beyond Pesticides works to protect workers and the public from pesticide hazards, and promotes the adoption of alternative pest management strategies, including practices to curtail widespread public and environmental exposure. 

Sierra Club is dedicated to enjoying and protecting natural resources and the environment, and has approximately 4,500 Maine members.

The groups’ notice letter was sent by attorney David Nicholas, of Newton, Massachusetts.  The groups are also represented by Josh Kratka, a Senior Attorney at the Boston-based National Environmental Law Center, and attorney Bruce Merrill of Portland.