A coalition of environmental groups is threatening to sue the federal government over the U.S. Food and Drug Administration greenlighting a British company’s plan to release millions of genetically-engineered mosquitoes in Monroe County.
The six organizations — some based locally, some internationally — argue the FDA did not take into account the impact the experiment could have on endangered species living in the Florida Keys. Their lawyers filed formal pre-litigation with the FDA informing the agency a lawsuit is coming if the approval is not reconsidered.
“FDA cannot just arbitrarily approve releasing an entirely novel genetically engineered organism into the environment without accounting for risks,” George Kimbrell, senior attorney for the Center for Food Safety, said in a statement. “[W]e will not stand by and allow the government to break the law by approving this unprecedented experiment without analyzing its impacts.”
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“If FDA does not cure these violations within 60 days, the listed organizations intend to file suit against the responsible agencies and officials to enforce the Endangered Species Act,” [Kimbrell] said.
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While the countywide vote [for genetically modified mosquitoes] was affirmative, Key Haven voters rejected the nonbinding ballot initiative.
The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion, and analysis. Read full, original post: Legal action threatened against FDA over Oxitec decision
