The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced today it was moving to ban the DDT-like pesticide endosulfan, a highly toxic pesticide used in orchards and fields across the country.

Endosulfan is so persistent and travels such long distances that it has been found in the Arctic, Sierra Nevada lakes, and Mount Everest, has been detected in the air around schools, and has been found in peer-reviewed articles to cause reproductive deformities and to increase autism in exposed fetuses.

EPA’s announcement comes nearly two years after a coalition of worker and environmental advocates sued the Bush administration EPA for re-registering this dangerous pesticide.

The following is a statement from Earthjustice attorney Kristen Boyles, who handled the lawsuit on behalf of Pesticide Action Network North America, labor groups United Farm Workers, Oregon-based Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste, California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation, the Farm Labor Organizing Committee, AFL-CIO Teamsters Local 890, as well as Beyond Pesticides, Center for Environmental Health, the Alaska Community Action on Toxics, and the Natural Resources Defense Council.

“Finally. This is terrific news for all Americans and especially for the families who live, work, and play near farms and orchards where this DDT-like pesticide is used. Endosulfan should have been banned years ago. As this growing season enters full swing, we sincerely hope it’s the last one where this dangerous poison is let loose in our communities and our environment.”