DDT Wars : Rescuing Our National Bird, Preventing Cancer, and Creating the Environmental Defense Fund

DDT Wars is the untold inside story of the decade-long scientific, legal and strategic campaign that culminated in the national ban of the insecticide DDT in 1972.;Cover -- Contents -- Preface -- Foreword -- Acknowledgments -- 1. A New England Town Sprays Its Elm Trees with DDT -- How Did I Get into This? -- DDT Kills Birds but Doesn't Save the Trees -- 2. Sue the Bastards on Long Island: The Power of an Idea -- DDT Goes to Trial on Long Island -- Rigging the Audubon Convention -- A Wall Street Lawyer Was Unimpressed -- The Environmental Defense Fund Is Born -- 3. Proceed with Caution, then Sue the Bastards in Michigan -- The Suit Partly Unravels -- Another Win While Losing -- The Cities Cave In, Forget to Kick Us Out -- Evolving a Master Plan -- 4. On to Wisconsin, the Dairy State -- DDT Goes to Trial in Madison, Wisconsin -- Birds Die, Nests Fail -- DDT, Thin Eggshells, and Reduced Reproduction in Birds -- DDT Reduces Reproduction in Trout and Salmon -- Wayland Hayes: "DDT Is Absolutely Safe" -- A Toxicologist Arrives from Sweden -- The Task Force for DDT Questions the Analyses -- Confusion with PCBs -- Integrated Pest Management Without any DDT -- Summation: DDT Is a Pollutant in the Wisconsin Ecosystem -- To Make an Omelet, You will Break Some Eggs -- Mid-1969: Where Did We Stand, What Had We Accomplished? -- Final Verdict from the DDT Hearings in Wisconsin -- 5. EDF, Barely an Organization, Getting Its Act Together -- Environmental Defense Fund, or Fundless Environmental Defenders? -- 6. EDF Diversifies into New Environmental Arenas -- Early Battles -- The Environmental Decade: The 1970s -- Environmental Defense Fund: Biggest Bang for the Buck -- The Judicial Approach Is Contagious -- 7. Time to Go After the Feds -- What!? DDT Also Causes Cancer? -- What!? DDT Also Causes Mutations and Birth Defects? -- Both Federal Agencies React to the Petitions. Barely! -- The Environmental Defense Fund Takes Two Federal Agencies to Court -- The Appeals Court Makes an Historic Decision. Cover -- Contents -- Preface -- Foreword -- Acknowledgments -- 1. A New England Town Sprays Its Elm Trees with DDT -- How Did I Get into This? -- DDT Kills Birds but Doesn't Save the Trees -- 2. Sue the Bastards on Long Island: The Power of an Idea -- DDT Goes to Trial on Long Island -- Rigging the Audubon Convention -- A Wall Street Lawyer Was Unimpressed -- The Environmental Defense Fund Is Born -- 3. Proceed with Caution, then Sue the Bastards in Michigan -- The Suit Partly Unravels -- Another Win While Losing -- The Cities Cave In, Forget to Kick Us Out -- Evolving a Master Plan -- 4. On to Wisconsin, the Dairy State -- DDT Goes to Trial in Madison, Wisconsin -- Birds Die, Nests Fail -- DDT, Thin Eggshells, and Reduced Reproduction in Birds -- DDT Reduces Reproduction in Trout and Salmon -- Wayland Hayes: "DDT Is Absolutely Safe" -- A Toxicologist Arrives from Sweden -- The Task Force for DDT Questions the Analyses -- Confusion with PCBs -- Integrated Pest Management Without any DDT -- Summation: DDT Is a Pollutant in the Wisconsin Ecosystem -- To Make an Omelet, You will Break Some Eggs -- Mid-1969: Where Did We Stand, What Had We Accomplished? -- Final Verdict from the DDT Hearings in Wisconsin -- 5. EDF, Barely an Organization, Getting Its Act Together -- Environmental Defense Fund, or Fundless Environmental Defenders? -- 6. EDF Diversifies into New Environmental Arenas -- Early Battles -- The Environmental Decade: The 1970s -- Environmental Defense Fund: Biggest Bang for the Buck -- The Judicial Approach Is Contagious -- 7. Time to Go After the Feds -- What!? DDT Also Causes Cancer? -- What!? DDT Also Causes Mutations and Birth Defects? -- Both Federal Agencies React to the Petitions. Barely! -- The Environmental Defense Fund Takes Two Federal Agencies to Court -- The Appeals Court Makes an Historic Decision. The Bruising Battle of the Briefs -- 8. Escalating the DDT Issue with More Court Cases -- Flushing Tons of DDT into the Los Angeles Sewer System -- What Happened to Montrose and Its Pollution Legacy After 1972? -- Bald Eagles Gone, Golden Eagles Move in -- 9. Changes in Washington Affect the DDT Battle -- EDF Begins to Expand: New People, New Washington Office -- 10. DDT Goes to Trial, Finally, in Washington, DC -- DDT: Global Contamination Problem -- Predatory Birds Pay the Price -- Mechanism for DDE-Induced Thin-Shelled Eggs -- Dangers of DDT to Fish and People Who Eat Them -- Superior Insect Control Without DDT -- Does DDT Cause Cancer? In Mice? Rats? Humans? -- DDT Industry Shortage of Qualified Witnesses -- 11. Ruckelshaus Decides -- The Ruckelshaus Decision: DDT Gets Canceled! Almost! -- Both Sides Appeal the Ruling to the Court of Appeals -- Passing the Test of Time -- They Are After Us Again-40 Years Later. Why? -- The Use of DDT for Controlling Malaria -- 12. Encores: Five More Bad Actors Were Dispatched -- Aldrin and Dieldrin on Trial: Suspension Mid-stream -- Heptachlor/Chlordane: Another Suspension Mid-stream -- Mirex Will "Eradicate" the Imported Fire Ant -- 13. The DDT Wars: Four Great Victories -- DDT Ban Led to Greater Cancer Prevention -- DDT Precedents Launched Environmental Law -- Remove the Threat and the Birds Will Recover -- EDF Today: Brilliant, Innovative, Optimistic, and Effective -- Epilogue: The Last Word by President Fred Krupp -- Appendices -- Bibliography -- Index. DDT Wars is the untold inside story of the decade-long scientific, legal and strategic campaign that culminated in the national ban of the insecticide DDT in 1972. The widespread misinformation, disinformation and mythology of the DDT issue are corrected in this book. DDT contamination had become worldwide, concentrating up food chains and causing birds to lay thin-shelled eggs that broke in the nests. Populations of many species of predatory and fish-eating birds collapsed, including the American Bald Eagle, Osprey, Peregrine Falcon and Brown Pelican. Their numbers recovered spectacularly in the decades following the ban. During the campaign DDT and five other insecticides were found to cause cancer in laboratory tests, which led to bans of these six pesticides by international treaty in 2001. This campaign produced lasting changes in American pesticide policies. The legal precedents broke down the court "standing" barrier, forming the basis for the development of environmental law as we know it today. This case history represents one of the greatest environmental victories of recent decades. DDT is still "controversial" because it has been deceptively interjected into the "climate wars." This campaign was led by the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), founded in 1967 by ten citizens, most of them scientists, volunteers without special political connections or financial resources. Their strategy was to take environmental problems to court. There were many setbacks along the way in this exciting and entertaining story. The group was often kicked out of court, but a few determined citizens made a large difference for environmental protection and public health. Author Charles Wurster was one of the leaders of the campaign. The first six years of EDF history are described as it struggled to survive. Now EDF is one of the world's great environmental advocacy organizations defending our climate, ecosystems, oceans and public health. Ddt Wars Is The Untold Inside Story Of The Decade-long Scientific, Legal, And Strategic Campaign That Culminated In The Nation Ban Of The Insecticide Ddt In 1972. Chapter 1. A New England Town Sprays Its Elm Trees With Ddt -- Chapter 2. Sue The Bastards On Long Island: The Power Of An Idea -- Chapter 3. Proceed With Caution, Then Sue The Bastards In Michigan --chapter 4. On To Wisconsin, The Dairy State -- Chapter 5. Edf, Barely An Organization, Getting Its Act Together -- Chapter 6. Edf Diversifies Into New Environmental Arenas -- Chapter 7: Time To Go After The Feds -- Chapter 8. Escalating The Ddt Issue With More Court Cases -- Chapter 9. Important Changes In Washington Affect The Ddt Battle -- Chapter 10. Ddt Goes To Trial, Finally, In Washington, Dc -- Chapter 11. Epa Administrator Ruckelshaus Decides -- Chapter 12. Encores: Five More Bad Actors Were Dispatched -- Chapter 13. The Ddt Wars: Four Great Victories. Charles F. Wurster. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. A firsthand account of the Environmental Defense Fund's battle to ban DDT from use as a pesticide, written by a founding member of the EDF. Describes the various legal and scientific maneuvers required to have the Environmental Protection Agency officially ban DDT.