Difference between revisions of "Virgil Meier"
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==GM bentgrass escapes== | ==GM bentgrass escapes== | ||
In 2010 Carol Mallory-Smith, an Oregon State University weed scientist, reported that Scotts Company's genetically modified bentgrass had spread from a test plot in Western Idaho to irrigation ditches in Eastern Oregon. Mallory-Smith went public with this fact after the Oregon Department of Agriculture and the USDA refused to alert the public to the escape.<ref>Mitch Lies, [http://www.gmwatch.org/latest-listing/1-news-items/12669 Agencies refused to publicize spread of biotech bentgrass], Capital Press, 11 Nov 2010, acc 6 Mar 2011</ref> | In 2010 Carol Mallory-Smith, an Oregon State University weed scientist, reported that Scotts Company's genetically modified bentgrass had spread from a test plot in Western Idaho to irrigation ditches in Eastern Oregon. Mallory-Smith went public with this fact after the Oregon Department of Agriculture and the USDA refused to alert the public to the escape.<ref>Mitch Lies, [http://www.gmwatch.org/latest-listing/1-news-items/12669 Agencies refused to publicize spread of biotech bentgrass], Capital Press, 11 Nov 2010, acc 6 Mar 2011</ref> | ||
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+ | In early 2011 Oregon Department of Agriculture Director Katy Coba asked Scotts Company and USDA to reveal their plans for eradicating the escaped GM bentgrass. Coba in letters dated Jan. 5 wrote that the ODA "is very concerned about glyphosate-tolerant creeping bentgrass in Malheur County, Ore." | ||
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+ | "Both the State Board of Agriculture and the ODA want to emphasize the importance of successfully eradicating the regulated (bentgrass) and are requesting a written response detailing the eradication plan," she wrote.<ref>Mitch Lies, [http://www.capitalpress.com/oregon/ml-coba-letter-021111 Coba presses Scotts for bentgrass plan], Capital Press, 10 Feb 2011, acc 6 Mar 2011</ref> | ||
==Contact== | ==Contact== |
Revision as of 23:35, 6 March 2011
Dr. Virgil Meier is a former employee of Scotts Company, the seed company that partnered with Monsanto to petition to commercialize genetically modified Roundup Ready bentgrass in 2003, according to Portland Indymedia activist Jennifer Polis.[1]
Polis writes that the International Center for Technology Assessment (ICTA) filed a federal lawsuit seeking to halt field trials of the GM bentgrass until the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) completed a full environmental review. As a result of the injunction, the USDA admitted that Meier was one of the USDA scientists involved in evaluating the GM bentgrass for approval.[2]
“The Meier declaration clearly calls into question the impartiality of the USDA in reviewing this product,” said ICTA Legal Director Joseph Mendelson III.[3]
The ICTA's lawsuit has thus far prevented the GM bentgrass from being deregulated, as at March 2011.
GM bentgrass escapes
In 2010 Carol Mallory-Smith, an Oregon State University weed scientist, reported that Scotts Company's genetically modified bentgrass had spread from a test plot in Western Idaho to irrigation ditches in Eastern Oregon. Mallory-Smith went public with this fact after the Oregon Department of Agriculture and the USDA refused to alert the public to the escape.[4]
In early 2011 Oregon Department of Agriculture Director Katy Coba asked Scotts Company and USDA to reveal their plans for eradicating the escaped GM bentgrass. Coba in letters dated Jan. 5 wrote that the ODA "is very concerned about glyphosate-tolerant creeping bentgrass in Malheur County, Ore."
"Both the State Board of Agriculture and the ODA want to emphasize the importance of successfully eradicating the regulated (bentgrass) and are requesting a written response detailing the eradication plan," she wrote.[5]
Contact
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Resources
Notes
- ↑ Jennifer Polis, GE grass threat to land and economy, The Portland Alliance, Nov 2004, acc 6 Mar 2011
- ↑ Jennifer Polis, GE grass threat to land and economy, The Portland Alliance, Nov 2004, acc 6 Mar 2011
- ↑ Jennifer Polis, GE grass threat to land and economy, The Portland Alliance, Nov 2004, acc 6 Mar 2011
- ↑ Mitch Lies, Agencies refused to publicize spread of biotech bentgrass, Capital Press, 11 Nov 2010, acc 6 Mar 2011
- ↑ Mitch Lies, Coba presses Scotts for bentgrass plan, Capital Press, 10 Feb 2011, acc 6 Mar 2011