DDT wars: rescuing our national bird, preventing cancer, and creating The Environmental Defense Fund

257 Pages·2015·12.105 MB·English

by  Environmental Defense Fund.;Wurster, Charles F

DDT Wars

DDT Wars
Rescuing Our National Bird,
Preventing Cancer, and Creating
the Environmental Defense Fund
CHARLES F. WURSTER
1
1
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© Charles F. Wurster 2015
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Wurster, Charles F.
DDT wars : rescuing our national bird, preventing cancer, and creating the Environmental
Defense Fund / Charles F. Wurster.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978–0–19–021941–3 (alk. paper)
1. DDT (Insecticide)—Toxicology. 2. DDT (Insecticide)—Physiological effect. 3. DDT
(Insecticide)—Environmental aspects. 4. Environmental Defense Fund. 5. Health promotion.
6. Environmental health. I. Title.
SB952.D2W87 2015
632’.9517—dc23
2014042820
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper
9780190219413-Wurster.indb 4 05/03/15 4:43 PM
Dedicated to Lorrie Otto,
who did her best to protect life on Earth,
to William D. Ruckelshaus,
a public servant who did the right thing,
to Marion Lane Rogers
who kept this history alive and inspired us all,
and to Marie H. Gladwish,
who more than anyone else, with endless encouragement,
affection and her many talents, helped bring this book to fruition.

CONTENTS
Preface xi
Foreword xv
Acknowledgments xix
1. A New England Town Sprays Its Elm Trees with DDT 1
How Did I Get into This? 2
DDT Kills Birds but Doesn’t Save the Trees 7
2. Sue the Bastards on Long Island: The Power of an Idea 13
DDT Goes to Trial on Long Island 18
Rigging the Audubon Convention; A Wall Street Lawyer Was
Unimpressed 23
The Environmental Defense Fund Is Born 25
3. Proceed with Caution, then Sue the Bastards in Michigan 29
The Suit Partly Unravels; Another Win While Losing 33
The Cities Cave In, Forget to Kick Us Out 33
Evolving a Master Plan 34
4. On to Wisconsin, the Dairy State 37
DDT Goes to Trial in Madison, Wisconsin 40
Birds Die, Nests Fail 45
DDT, Thin Eggshells, and Reduced Reproduction in Birds 49
DDT Reduces Reproduction in Trout and Salmon 57
Wayland Hayes: “DDT Is Absolutely Safe” 59
A Toxicologist Arrives from Sweden 60
The Task Force for DDT Questions the Analyses; Confusion
with PCBs 61
Integrated Pest Management Without any DDT 63
viii CONTENTS
Summation: DDT Is a Pollutant in the Wisconsin Ecosystem 65
To Make an Omelet, You will Break Some Eggs 66
Mid-1969: Where Did We Stand, What Had We Accomplished? 69
Final Verdict from the DDT Hearings in Wisconsin 70
5. EDF, Barely an Organization, Getting Its Act Together 73
Environmental Defense Fund, or Fundless Environmental
Defenders? 78
6. EDF Diversifies into New Environmental Arenas 87
Early Battles 88
The Environmental Decade: The 1970s 93
Environmental Defense Fund: Biggest Bang for the Buck 99
The Judicial Approach Is Contagious 100
7. Time to Go After the Feds 103
What!? DDT Also Causes Cancer? 106
What!? DDT Also Causes Mutations and Birth Defects? 108
Both Federal Agencies React to the Petitions. Barely! 108
The Environmental Defense Fund Takes Two Federal Agencies
to Court 110
The Appeals Court Makes an Historic Decision 111
The Bruising Battle of the Briefs 113
8. Escalating the DDT Issue with More Court Cases 115
Flushing Tons of DDT into the Los Angeles Sewer System 116
What Happened to Montrose and Its Pollution Legacy
After 1972? 117
Bald Eagles Gone, Golden Eagles Move in 119
9. Changes in Washington Affect the DDT Battle 123
EDF Begins to Expand: New People, New Washington Office 127
CONTENTS ix
10. DDT Goes to Trial, Finally, in Washington, DC 131
DDT: Global Contamination Problem 136
Predatory Birds Pay the Price 138
Mechanism for DDE-Induced Thin-Shelled Eggs 143
Dangers of DDT to Fish and People Who Eat Them 145
Superior Insect Control Without DDT 145
Does DDT Cause Cancer? In Mice? Rats? Humans? 148
DDT Industry Shortage of Qualified Witnesses 151
11. Ruckelshaus Decides 157
The Ruckelshaus Decision: DDT Gets Canceled! Almost! 158
Both Sides Appeal the Ruling to the Court of Appeals 163
Passing the Test of Time 163
They Are After Us Again—40 Years Later. Why? 164
The Use of DDT for Controlling Malaria 168
12. Encores: Five More Bad Actors Were Dispatched 171
Aldrin and Dieldrin on Trial: Suspension Mid-stream 172
Heptachlor/Chlordane: Another Suspension Mid-stream 178
Mirex Will “Eradicate” the Imported Fire Ant 180
13. The DDT Wars: Four Great Victories 183
DDT Ban Led to Greater Cancer Prevention 184
DDT Precedents Launched Environmental Law 186
Remove the Threat and the Birds Will Recover 188
EDF Today: Brilliant, Innovative, Optimistic, and Effective 195
Epilogue: The Last Word by President Fred Krupp 201
Appendices 205
Bibliography 209
Index 215