Landowners sue DuPont, alleging herbicide damage

By MARK WARBIS, Associated Press

BOISE, Idaho (April 16, 2002 9:33 p.m. EDT) - More than 100 farmers and ranchers in Idaho are suing E.I. duPont de Nemours and Co., seeking potentially hundreds of millions of dollars for crop damage allegedly done by the herbicide Oust.

Aerial and ground applicators of the DuPont chemical also were named in the 5th District Court lawsuit, and a claim raising the same allegations was filed against the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.

The precise amount of damages is to be determined at trial, including loss of profits, land value, production capacity, rental income and reputation. Boise attorney Walter Bithell, representing the landowners, said the total could be in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

The complaints allege more than 100,000 acres in 11 counties were affected by Oust. The chemical allegedly was carried by the wind from burned-off rangeland where the BLM had the herbicide applied in 1999 and 2000 to prevent the emergence of noxious weeds.

Bithell said some of the farmers have defaulted on loans or been driven to the brink of bankruptcy by losses in potato, sugar beet, grain and other crops in 2000 and 2001.

The Idaho Department of Agriculture investigated the crop losses and reported in January that the BLM violated state law by applying Oust near agriculture property to dusty, highly erodible rangeland that had been denuded by wildfire.

DuPont spokesman Dan Goicoechea said the company was reviewing the complaint but that the fault was not with the chemical's manufacturer.

"Any alleged crop damage occurred from BLM's failure to follow product label instructions and its own environmental analysis requirement," Goicoechea said.

The BLM instituted a statewide moratorium on Oust use last June 22. Agency spokesman Barry Rose said Tuesday that the claim would be assessed. The BLM has 120 days to review the claim and determine whether to offer compensation or possibly face a lawsuit.

"We feel the situation was not caused by carelessness on our part, but by environmental conditions that were extreme and unanticipated," namely a prolonged drought, Rose said. "We believe we applied the herbicide Oust in accordance with label directions which had been approved by EPA and the state of Idaho."

The lawsuit alleges negligence by DuPont and the applicators, and that Oust is a defective product.