New Judge Takes Over New York West Nile Virus Spray Lawsuit
(Beyond Pesticides, April 1, 2004) The Honorable George B. Daniels has recently been assigned the lawsuit of No Spray Coalition v. the City of New York. Judge Daniels takes the place of the recently retired Judge Martin who made an unfavorable ruling against the Plaintiffs, which was later overturned in December 2003.

Lawyers for the No Spray Coalition submitted a letter to Judge Daniels asking him to renew consideration of the summary judgment motions in light of the December 2003 Second Circuit decision that vacated Judge Martin's earlier unfavorable ruling.

In November 2002, U.S. District Court Judge John S. Martin dismissed the lawsuit under the Clean Water Act saying that the Act was not meant to deal with pesticide spraying since that issue is dealt with by other laws. Plaintiffs argue that the Clean Water Act is one of the few laws that grant citizens the right to sue government agencies that are polluting the environment.

Plaintiffs are now waiting to hear from the Court regarding the request for summary judgment as well as the assignment of a court date for the full trial to begin.

For more information: see Beyond Pesticides Daily News story or the December 2003 judgment.

TAKE ACTION: If you would like to aid the No Spray Coalition in this struggle to stop the mass spraying of pesticides, the organization is looking for a volunteer to help with the No Spray website or for financial contributions.