Judge Orders GMO Sugar Beet Seed Plants to Be Destroyed

About 95 per­cent of the sugar beet crop has been genet­i­cally mod­i­fied to resist the weed killer Roundup. The crop pro­vides roughly half of the nation’s sugar supply.

In his deci­sion, White cited, “a sig­nif­i­cant risk of envi­ron­men­tal harm.”

White ruled in a law­suit filed by envi­ron­men­tal groups chal­leng­ing a deci­sion in September by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Services to issue per­mits to seed com­pa­nies to plant sugar beet steck­lings. The young plants pro­duce seeds that then are planted to grow sugar beets.

The agency decided to issue the per­mits despite an August rul­ing by White that put a hold on future plant­ing of genet­i­cally mod­i­fied sugar beets. The rul­ing allowed this year’s crop to be har­vested and processed, but the cur­rent seed crop was not to be planted until the USDA reviewed the effects the crops could have on other food.

In his order Tuesday, White wrote that the envi­ron­men­tal groups had shown that the genet­i­cally mod­i­fied sugar beets could con­t­a­m­i­nate other crops, includ­ing through cross-pollination.

“The likely envi­ron­men­tal harm . . . is irrepara­ble,” White wrote.

The plants in ques­tion would pro­duce seeds for crops to be planted in the spring of 2012. Crops that will be planted next spring won’t be affected by the decision.

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