EPA sued over streptomycin use on citrus trees

A coalition of public interest, environmental health, and farmworker advocacy groups is suing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over its decision to allow widespread use of a medically important antibiotic to prevent and treat a bacterial disease that affects citrus trees.

The lawsuit, filed this week in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, is asking the court to set aside the EPA’s recent order to allow spraying of streptomycin on citrus trees to prevent or treat citrus greening or citrus canker.