LULAC Historic Court Win Forces Pesticide Off Market
Nation’s Oldest and Largest Latino Civil Rights Organization Applauds End to Manufacture of Chlorpyrifos
Washington, DC - The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) today announced an unprecedented victory in its 90-history after Corteva, a company that makes the agricultural pesticide Chlorpyrifos, conceded Thursday that it is removing the chemical from sale worldwide immediately.
“This clearly shows the power of the people when we fight injustice and stand up for what is right even if it seems that we are but a David going up against a multi-billion dollar Goliath,” said Domingo Garcia, National President. “LULAC was the primary plaintiff in the lawsuit against this long-used poison that was exposing millions of Latino farmworkers and their families, even entire communities, to a pesticide with a proven history of causing low-birth weight in babies, hurting the ability of children to learn and even causing attention deficit disorders,” he added.
Corteva is a company that was spun off following the merger of Dupont and Dow Chemical and still insists Chlorpyrifos is safe. However, it admitted that sales globally of the pesticide were declining and made the decision to discontinue manufacturing the chemical that once was the most used in agriculture since the 1990’s when it was first introduced.
LULAC and a coalition of organizations prevailed in a ruling handed down in July, 2019 by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals against the Environmental Protection Agency which was refusing to ban chlorpyrifos. Following the landmark ruling, LULAC Chief Executive Officer Sindy Benavides called attention to its significance for millions of Latinos. “For years corporations like Dow were able to hijack our government to put profit before people. But today the court sided with reason. Children and farmworkers have the right to live and work without risk of poisonings,” she stated.
About LULAC
The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) is the nation’s largest and oldest civil rights volunteer-based organization that empowers Hispanic Americans and builds strong Latino communities. Headquartered in Washington, DC, with 1,000 councils around the United States and Puerto Rico, LULAC’s programs, services and advocacy address the most important issues for Latinos, meeting critical needs of today and the future. For more information, visit https://lulac.org/