The Evolving Legal Battle Surrounding the Dangerous Herbicide Dicamba

On June 4th, 2020 the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals vacated the EPA’s approval of the use of three different types of dicamba, a herbicide developed by Monsanto. They did so stating that the EPA, “...substantially understated the risk that it acknowledged.” Dicamba is a herbicide developed by Monsanto, that was approved in late 2016 as a replacement for another dangerous herbicide “Round-Up”. Many common weeds had grown resistant to Round-Up along with many other common herbicides. While not as dangerous to people as Round-Up is, dicamba has still been making the farmers that use it sick. The true harm of dicamba that the Ninth Circuit focused on when it vacated the approval of it, however, was the harm it causes to the environment and nearby farms.

Our “Spotlight Series” will share with you who the people working behind the scenes to provide access to justice and more for our clients and their environments. This series will include interviews from both our all of our virtual offices to give you an idea of who are and what we do.

Meredith Starks is working virtually with us from Binghamton, NY

What Virtual Office are you working form? Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Where are you actually working from? Binghamton, New York

What school are you attending, and year are you going into? I am going into my 5th year of a BS/MPH program in Environmental Health at the Rollins School of Public Health of Emory University.

Why did you decided to go to pursue your degree? When I was in my sophomore year of undergrad at Emory, I participated in a Mock World Health Organization conference themed “Climate Change: The Global Health Response”. This conference was the first time that I realized I could combine my interests in Environmental Studies, Human Health, and I discovered a new concentration area: Environmental Justice. I became so enthralled with learning about and finding solutions to Environmental Justice that I applied to a 4+1 program that Emory offered, wherein participants would receive a BS in Environmental Science over the normal 4 years while also taking enough graduate classes throughout their junior and senior years of undergrad to earn an MPH in Environmental Health in their 5th year at Emory. Being accepted into this program truly changed my life and career trajectory.

What do you like to do when you are not working? I love to relax by hiking or just being in the sun, playing piano, or watching Netflix. During the quarantine, I’ve also gotten back into reading for pleasure and expanded my love for baking.

What is your favorite skill that you have unrelated to what you do at Fair Shake? I’m a good singer.

What might someone be surprised to know about you? My A Cappella group was invited to be in the “Fan Cast” of the Super Bowl LIII Halftime Show with Maroon 5. The organizers asked local Atlanta performing groups to basically just dance around the stage Maroon 5 was playing on and look excited, but it was a really cool once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and I was briefly on National Television.

What are you working on at Fair Shake? I am currently working on the initial phases of designing a study to collect soil samples for analysis of potential contamination from one of the Pittsburgh region’s largest industrial polluters. A group including myself is also planning a field sampling excursion to analyze potentially radioactive pollution in a local stream. This work involves considerable independent research, citizen outreach, and project planning.

What do you like most about working with Fair Shake? Throughout my education, I’ve really only learned about big Environmental policy cases or systemic problems with few or no solutions. To actually be able to apply my education to real people and real cases, and to be able to feel like I’m helping in finding some resolution to Environmental Justice issues is amazing.

What is has surprised you about Fair Shake? I’m surprised that our firm meetings and case reviews have been so interesting. I fully expected with my limited knowledge of legal proceedings that I’d have a hard time focusing in meetings, especially remote meetings, but I’ve learned a great deal about law practice in the last few weeks working with Fair Shake and it’s all been extremely engaging.

What do you wish other people knew about our work? I wish that more people in the area knew about our work in general. I recently spoke with the former treasurer of a local park restoration committee who told me that before our meeting she had researched Fair Shake and had never heard of us or our work but that she was immensely appreciative of the work we do for her community and surrounding communities.

Do you think the work you are doing is important? Why? I think my work is extremely important. Pollution of environmental media is a worldwide problem, but the US in particular has consistently and historically disproportionately burdened poor and marginalized communities with water, soil and air made unclean by poorly-regulated industrial practices. The first step in resolving this injustice is proving that it has been committed, and that is what my work is targeting on a small scale.

Tell me how you first heard about involved with Fair Shake? The Associate Director of my Environmental Health program periodically sends emails with job opportunities that could qualify as practica required for graduation. The link to my position- Research Fellow- Water & Air Pollution- was sent as one of these opportunities.

How has this time at Fair Shake inspired you? I’ve been inspired by the teams of people willing to help me or the communities with which I’m working. Every person I’ve reached out to, from an executive board member of a small committee to a representative of the Allegheny Land Trust in charge of a large conservation area, has responded with helpful information and asked questions about me and my work when they needed clarification. It’s inspiring to have so many people care deeply about their communities and to be so willing to help me find the information I need to expand my research or get sampling permission.