Difference between revisions of "Virgil Meier"
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| − | 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.<ref>Jennifer Polis, [http://www.theportlandalliance.org/2004/nov/gecrops.htm GE grass threat to land and economy], The Portland Alliance, Nov 2004, acc 6 Mar 2011</ref> | + | Dr. [[Virgil Meier]] is a former employee of [[Scotts Company]], the Ohio-based grass seed company that partnered with [[Monsanto]] to petition to commercialize genetically modified Roundup Ready bentgrass in 2003, according to Portland Indymedia activist Jennifer Polis.<ref>Jennifer Polis, [http://www.theportlandalliance.org/2004/nov/gecrops.htm GE grass threat to land and economy], The Portland Alliance, Nov 2004, acc 6 Mar 2011</ref> |
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| + | Meier was head of turf grass development at Scotts.<ref>Richard C. Halverson, [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3092/is_n16_v30/ai_11160598/ New grasses sprout roots - Outdoor Living: Special Supplement], Discount Store News, August 19, 1991, acc 6 Mar 2011</ref> | ||
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, a former employee of Scotts, was one of the USDA scientists involved in evaluating the GM bentgrass for approval.<ref>Jennifer Polis, [http://www.theportlandalliance.org/2004/nov/gecrops.htm GE grass threat to land and economy], The Portland Alliance, Nov 2004, acc 6 Mar 2011</ref> | 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, a former employee of Scotts, was one of the USDA scientists involved in evaluating the GM bentgrass for approval.<ref>Jennifer Polis, [http://www.theportlandalliance.org/2004/nov/gecrops.htm GE grass threat to land and economy], The Portland Alliance, Nov 2004, acc 6 Mar 2011</ref> | ||
Revision as of 23:39, 6 March 2011
Dr. Virgil Meier is a former employee of Scotts Company, the Ohio-based grass 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]
Meier was head of turf grass development at Scotts.[2]
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, a former employee of Scotts, was one of the USDA scientists involved in evaluating the GM bentgrass for approval.[3]
“The Meier declaration clearly calls into question the impartiality of the USDA in reviewing this product,” said ICTA Legal Director Joseph Mendelson III.[4]
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.[5]
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.[6]
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
- ↑ Richard C. Halverson, New grasses sprout roots - Outdoor Living: Special Supplement, Discount Store News, August 19, 1991, 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
