FYI Neila Seaman, MPA Director Sierra Club, Iowa Chapter 3839 Merle Hay Road, Suite 280 Des Moines, IA 50310 [log in to unmask] 515-277-8868 >From: Stephanie Weisenbach <[log in to unmask]> >Subject: [rural advocacy] Action Alert!!! Stop Pharmaceutical Corn from >being planted in >Date: Mon, 13 Jun 2005 17:35:51 -0700 (PDT) > > > >Action Alert: Call USDA TODAY to Stop Pharmaceutical Corn from Being >Planted in SE Iowa >After the seed pre-emption legislation was signed into Iowa law, >biotechnology interests pushed forward and applied for a USDA permit to >grow pharmaceutical corn in SE Iowa at the Iowa Army Ammunitions Plant near >Burlington. This corn is engineered to produce anti-diarrhea drugs for >swine and potentially humans. (similar to Prodigene.) The corn is scheduled >to be planted this week approximately one mile away from conventional corn. >Iowa State University is the applicant for the permit and they are hiring >out Bill Horan as the farm manager from Rockwell City, who has a long >history with pharmaceutical crop interests. The application has not yet >been approved by USDA. The pen is nearing the paper as soon as possible to >make way for the seeds to be planted. A thorough analysis of the permit has >already been completed that is missing a critical component: PUBLIC >SCRUTINY and OUTCRY. >Call USDA today!!!! >Contact Neil Hoffman, Director of Environmental Risk Analysis at >301-734-6331 > >It’s his job to review the permit, and the USDA has turned down permits >before. For more information about the contacts at USDA and permits visit >http://www.aphis.usda.gov/brs/brs_contacts.html >http://www.aphis.usda.gov/brs/ph_permits.html > >Talking points: > > Pharmaceutical corn should not be allowed in Iowa, even if it is behind >layers of security at the Iowa Army Ammunitions Plant. > The applicants have ensured that conventional corn in the area near the >site was planted at least 28 days before the pharmaceutical corn will be, >avoiding cross-pollination risks. There is NO definite way of knowing that >other corn, including sweet corn, hasn’t been planted in that window of >time. This makes their entire application lose any credibility or >truthfulness. > Greater public comment is needed before approving such an application. >As with the pharmaceutical rice permit process in Missouri, several >stakeholders including the food industry, deserve a chance to review the >application and be heard. > >Background: > >Dr. Kan Wang from Iowa State University has applied to grow pharmaceutical >corn with the Horan Brothers last year in Colorado. The application was >approved and the corn planted. A few days later tornados swept through the >area and destroyed the planting. It is unknown what distance the seeds may >have traveled. This year, ISU didn’t apply to grow the corn in Colorado and >instead are preparing Iowa soil. See a newspaper article from the Boulder >Weekly pasted below. > > > >Spreading seeds of destruction >Tornadoes stir concerns about GE corn contamination > >by Ian Neligh > >In Northeast Colorado, the cornfields of Logan County barely stir under the >heavy heat of the sun. Disturbed grasshoppers jump in clouds over old >pull-top beer cans and through the dry grass choking the roadside. In some >places the cornfields go on as far as you can see, and it’s all perfectly >silent. The only interruption to the calm comes from the semis cutting >through the waves of heat on distant Highway 76. > >Somewhere deep in these fields lies a secret–an experimental plot of >pharmaceutical corn that is hidden from the public. It was planted under >some controversy on June 4. Five days later a tornado roared through these >peaceful fields causing extensive damage in the surrounding areas. > >Though the Colorado Department of Agriculture reports receiving no official >complaints about the secret pharmaceutical crop in Logan County, several >organizations both in the region and in the United States are concerned >that the open-air planting may have resulted in cross contamination with >food crops in the area–a situation not helped by the ill-timed tornado that >may have spread the seeds across the countryside. The result, say some, >could be a public health threat. > >The corn, which is transgenic, would be harvested for production of an >experimental protein used as an edible vaccine for livestock. Both Dr. Kan >Wang, a University of Iowa State biopharm researcher involved in starting >the project, and the Horan Brothers Agricultural Enterprises, the company >being paid to take care of the plot, could not be reached before press >time. > >Dave Georgis, director of the Colorado Genetic Engineering Action Network >(COGEAN) and head of GMO-Free Boulder, says the industry and government >officials say that nobody has ever been injured by experimental >pharmaceutical crops, but he feels that is a fairly disingenuous thing to >say to the public because of the lack of long-term human studies in the >field. > >"What could happen [if these seeds spread]?" says Georgis. "Well, we don’t >know–and that’s the whole thing about it. When you’re messing with the food >supply, I think it’s an appropriate case to call into place the >precautionary principle, which is, ‘If you don’t know, then you don’t let >it loose.’" > >It’s the job of the Colorado Department of Agriculture (CDA) to follow up >on public concerns about such projects and to ensure their safety. >According to CDA’S Public Information Officer Linh Truong, there have been >no official reports or concerns made by residents of Logan County about the >secret crop. > >"In the information I received, it was planted in early June," says Truong. >"What had happened is that when it was planted, I guess some storms came >through just a few days after it was planted. So nothing had even sprouted. >The concerns of anything spreading–we’re not worried about that." > >But Dale Reed, head of Western Colorado Congress (WCC), isn’t ready to >dismiss the situation so easily. The WCC was developed on the Western Slope >to try and mediate some of the problems that occur in Colorado farming >communities. > >"It would be academically interesting to know what happened," says Reed. >"Did [the tornado] hit that strip of genetically modified seeds, or did it >not? I expect we’ll find out in due time." > >Currently the WCC has enlisted legal help to file a Freedom of Information >Act request about whether the genetically engineered seeds spread and is >considering the possibility of legal action. > >If the tornado in Logan County did go over the area in question and >disturbed the genetically modified seeds, it’s uncertain how far the seeds >could have spread. According to Greg Romano of the National Oceanic and >Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) it would depend how big the tornado was. > >"If you’re talking a kernel, it could take them for a long ways out of >there. It’s not unusual for people find things a hundred or more miles >away," says Romano. "Even an F0 tornado, which is the weakest rating you >can give it, will lift dirt." > >The corn seeds were planted beneath a thin layer of topsoil, and the June 9 >tornado was rated an F1. > >"This tornado is an example as to why the public must be notified as to >where these things are being planted," says Peter Jenkins, attorney and >policy analyst for the Center for Food Safety in Washington, D.C. "It’s >outrageous that this sort of thing could happen and the location be kept a >secret from the neighbors." > >The Center for Food Safety is a nonprofit public interest group pushing for >the regulation of genetically engineered crops in the United States. >Currently the organization is pursuing a lawsuit to force the USDA to >reveal more information about field tests like the one in Logan County and >to submit such projects to adequate environmental compliance before >approving them. Getting pharmaceutical companies to reveal the nature >and/or location of these crop experiments is going to be difficult, since >it is considered proprietary information and does not have to be disclosed >to the public. > >"We think this is ridiculous," says Jenkins, "because that is the kind of >information you need to have in order to determine whether something is >safe." > >For more information: > >Contact Stephanie Weisenbach at [log in to unmask] > > > > > > > > > > > > > >--------------------------------- >Discover Yahoo! > Have fun online with music videos, cool games, IM & more. Check it out! - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Sign up to receive Sierra Club Insider, the flagship e-newsletter. Sent out twice a month, it features the Club's latest news and activities. Subscribe and view recent editions at http://www.sierraclub.org/insider/