Opinion ID: 487461
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: the 1985 eis and the 1986 addendum

Text: 8 A few words are in order on the documents that are the focal point of the latest round of this strenuously and well litigated controversy. The 1985 EIS includes an 8-page summary, a 78-page main text, lists of preparers and 145 references, an index, and a glossary defining 90 terms. Eight appendices include EPA reports on N-nitrosocarbaryl and carbaryl; data on the history of gypsy moth eradication; comments on the draft documents and responses; a 134-page worst case analysis (Appendix F); a 43-page plain language version of Appendix F (Appendix H); and further information on Appendices F and H (Appendix I). 9 The EIS's statement of purpose and need for action describes the history of the gypsy moth in the United States and the attempts to control it. The gypsy moth, Lymantria dispar L., native to Europe, Asia, and Africa, was accidentally released in Massachusetts in 1869. From 1889, when an outbreak of gypsy moth larvae first threatened severe tree defoliation, until the late 1950s, state and federal agencies used a variety of compounds, including dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane (DDT), to control infestations in New England. With the phasing out of DDT in the 1960s and 1970s, new compounds were developed--carbaryl, trichlorfon, acephate, and diflubenzuron. Almost two million pounds of carbaryl were used in gypsy moth programs in the northeastern United States between 1962 and 1977. 10 Despite these efforts, the gypsy moth spread to the mid-Atlantic states by the 1970s and has appeared as far south as South Carolina, in certain mid-western states, and in California and Oregon. The EIS reports that gypsy moths defoliated 11,955,486 acres between 1924 and 1969, 11,640,705 acres between 1970 and 1979, and 29,425,328 acres between 1980 and 1984. It estimates that, as of 1980, economic losses to home owners, forest industries, and recreation areas have totaled $272 million. 11 The EIS evaluates four alternatives for the gypsy moth problem: (1) no action, (2) the four chemical insecticides, (3) the biological insecticide Bacillus thuringiensis, to which appellants do not object, and (4) the selected alternative, integrated pest management, which permits the use of both chemical and biological insecticides. The EIS identifies mitigating measures and the affected environment--tree species susceptible to gypsy moths, nontarget organisms that the insecticides would affect, 1 and geographical areas. The analysis of the environmental consequences concludes that realistic dose levels (and certain worst case dose exposures) for the four chemical insecticides are below the acceptable daily intake level and estimates that certain worst case risks of human cancer and heritable mutations range from the order of 1 in 100,000,000 to the order of 1 in 1,000,000. The highest worst case cancer risk (for acephate) is on the order of 1 in 100,000. 12 The 1985 EIS and 1986 Addendum have the outward indicia of comprehensiveness. See 40 C.F.R. Sec. 1502.10 (1986) (setting forth EIS format). At trial several witnesses testified to the thoroughness of the documents; one stated that he had never seen a greater effort made to identify all possible avenues of exposure and all reasonably possible exposure contingencies. If the EIS is inadequate, it is not for lack of substantial effort on the part of its preparers. Yet OEC and FOE assign numerous errors in this lengthy document. We address their principal arguments.