Canadian Beekeepers Launch Class Action Suit Against Pesticide Makers

[Judi Lynn]

Published on Thursday, September 04, 2014
by Common Dreams

Canadian Beekeepers Launch Class Action Suit Against Pesticide Makers

"It was time to get serious and go after the real villains — the companies profiting from the ecological mayhem."

by Andrea Germanos, staff writer

Beekeepers in the Canadian province of Ontario have launched a class action lawsuit against makers of a class of pesticides linked to the decline of bees.

The claim (pdf) filed Tuesday in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice seeks $450 million in damages going back to 2006 for the "chronic effects of the use of the Neonicotinoids ... felt by Canada’s Beekeepers annually."

The effort targets agribusiness giants Bayer and Syngenta, whom the claims states were "negligent in permitting or failing to prevent the damages caused by the Neonicotinoids to the Beekeepers."

The claim, led by two Ontario-based honey producers and filed by Siskinds LLP, charges that agribusiness giants Bayer and Syngenta's "continued production, marketing and sale of the Neonicotinoids" poses "ongoing" damage. "Beekeepers have suffered, and will continue to suffer, devastating economic hardships as a result of the continued use of Neonicotinoids," it states.

The damages they say are caused by these pesticides, also known as neonics, include: bee deaths; impaired reproduction; immune suppression; behavioral abnormalities resulting in hive loss ; reduced honey production; impacts on the quality of honey; contamination of hive equipment; loss of Queen Bees; breeding stock; and difficulties fulfilling honey product or pollination contracts.

More:
http://www.commondreams.org/news/2014/09/04/canadian-beekeepers-launch-class-action-suit-against-pesticide-makers

[oldandhappy]

1. I am glad to see this.

Thank you for the post.