Three environmental organizations sued the Fish and Wildlife Service on Monday over the agency’s go-ahead for continued use of the insecticide malathion, which is used to control mosquitoes and other pests.
The Center for Biological Diversity and two allied groups charged in the federal lawsuit filed in San Francisco that FWS failed its Endangered Species Act obligations with its 2022 biological opinion concerning the potent chemical.
In its 2022 assessment, FWS rendered a “no jeopardy” verdict after concluding the insecticide did not pose an extinction risk to threatened or endangered species.
“The Fish and Wildlife Service submitted to the pesticide industry’s demands and hung more than 1,500 endangered species out to dry by failing to rein in malathion use in their habitats,” said Lori Ann Burd, environmental health director at the Center for Biological Diversity, in a statement Monday.
