Case Number # 2076
Earthjustice is representing the Gulf Restoration Network and the Florida Wildlife Federation in challenging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for its failure to reveal the secret ingredients in chemical dispersants that the agency has deemed eligible for use in oil spills. Dispersants are currently being used on the Gulf of Mexico oil leak in unprecedented amounts despite a lack of knowledge about their immediate and long-term effects. The suit also seeks all health and safety information that the EPA has on the dispersants and their ingredients.
The groups brought the lawsuit after the EPA failed to produce the information requested under the Freedom of Information Act on May 28. The EPA disclosed the secret ingredients of the two chemical dispersants used in the Gulf oil spill, but the agency has not released the other requested health and safety information.
"We need to know more about these dispersants," said Earthjustice attorney Marianne Engelman Lado. "Once we have more information on the ingredients, as well as what alternatives could be used, everyone involved, including workers, policy makers, and researchers, can make better, more informed decisions."