Groups Call On Minnesota to Address Rampant Neonic Pollution

After years of work by NRDC to rein in widespread and unnecessary neonic pesticide contamination in Minnesota, the NRDC Action Fund, Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy, and Minnesota Trout Unlimited have filed a legal petition against the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA). The petition argues that MDA's failure to regulate widespread, unnecessary treated seed use violates Minnesotans' rights under the law-and that MDA must take swift regulatory action.

Neonicotinoid pesticides, or "neonics," are a class of neurotoxic insecticides used on a near-unprecedented scale, most commonly as coatings on crop seeds, known as "seed treatments." In Minnesota, neonic seed treatments on corn and soybean seeds alone likely cover upwards of 12 million acres.

Unsurprisingly, widespread use of these long-lasting and highly mobile pesticides has caused near-ubiquitous contamination of Minnesota's environment. In 2022, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources released a report finding neonics in the spleens of 94% of white-tailed deer across the state--up from 61% just two years earlier. And water testing shows that neonics commonly contaminate Minnesota waters, often at levels that are expected to harm aquatic ecosystems.

Two decades of research shows that neonic contamination is devastating for the environment. Neonics are a leading driver of losses of honey bees and wild bees that farmers rely on to grow food, and increasingly linked with the collapse of aquatic ecosystems, declining bird populations, and birth defects in deer. Neonic-treated seeds have even been identified as the number one factor associated with declines in Monarch butterflies in the Midwest from 1998-2014.

Their harms don't stop there. A recent study detected neonics in the bodies of 95% of pregnant women tested nationwide. And studies link neonics with malformations of the developing heart and brain and other health harms. And a brand-new analysis finds that regulatory studies-meaning those conducted by the pesticide industry itself-reveal harms to the developing brain. Worse still, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has failed to acknowledge and address many of these harms when approving neonics for widespread use.

In other words, neonic contamination is bad news-for bees, birds, fish, and people.

Minnesotans have a legal right to be free of this kind of ecological destruction. The Minnesota Environmental Rights Act states that all people are "entitled by right to the protection, preservation, and enhancement of air, water, land, and other natural resources located within the state." The Action Fund's petition argues that MDA's decades-long refusal to address the number one source of harmful neonic contamination violates this foundational right.

The petition also argues that MDA is required under Minnesota's pesticide statutes to rein in use of neonic treated seeds because their use is unreasonable. You don't need a PhD to see why. Treated seeds cause widespread ecological destruction and pose human health risks, while academic research consistently shows that their most common uses fail to benefit farmers.

Neonic-treated seeds benefit no one--not farmers, not communities, and certainly not the ecosystems devastated by neonic pollution. There's just one exception: the multinational chemical companies who profit from their sale. Just four companies supply upwards of 75% of corn and soybean seeds in the U.S., and those same companies are manufacturers of neonics.

The Action Fund's petition shows that MDA has the power-and a legal responsibility-to take action. The agency has 60 days to respond. It's time for MDA to stand up to these corporate behemoths and do what's right for Minnesotans by tracking, regulating, and reining in unnecessary use of neonic-treated seeds.

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