Dole, Del Monte, Dow Chemical Sued Over Banana Pesticide

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Bloomberg News

Dole, Del Monte, Dow Chemical Sued Over Banana Pesticide
By Phil Milford - Jun 4, 2012 10:21 AM CT

Dole Food Co. (DOLE), Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc. (FDP) and Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) were sued by more than 1,000 banana plantation workers from Costa Rica, Ecuador and Panama in a new round of cases claiming injury from a pesticide.

The chemical, dibromochloropropane, has been linked to sterility, miscarriages, birth defects, cancer, eye problems, skin disorders and kidney damage, according to eight separate complaints filed since May 31 in federal court in Delaware.

The pesticide, banned in the U.S. in 1979, was sprayed on fields to eliminate microscopic nematode worms, and workers “wore no gloves, protective covering or respiratory equipment” and none of the defendants “ever informed them that they were in danger,” the plaintiffs said in court papers.

At least 16,000 Latin American workers have sued in U.S. courts over the chemical in the past two decades. Most cases have been dismissed, with judges saying workers must use their home courts.

Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-06-04/dole-del-monte-dow-chemical-sued-over-banana-pesticide.html

[Hubert Flottz]

1. The corporation can do no wrong.

Always the same old crap. I wonder who appointed those judges?

[bananas]

2. There's a documentary and follow-up about this

not sure if it's the exact same case

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bananas!*

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Boys_Gone_Bananas!*

[Judi Lynn]

3. Dole-connected article: Drug interdiction: The U.S. wades more deeply into Honduras

Drug interdiction: The U.S. wades more deeply into Honduras
June 4, 2012 12:11 am
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

A drug raid last month by Honduran police and U.S. agents in State Department helicopters killed four civilians and has drawn attention to Washington's growing involvement there.

Honduras, particularly its Mosquito Coast on the Caribbean, has become an important transit stop for aircraft flying cocaine from Colombia to Mexico, from where it is then transported to the United States by Mexican drug cartels.

The U.S. Central American Regional Security Initiative, focused on security and the interdiction of drug trafficking in countries of that region -- Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama -- put $107 million into Honduras in 2011. Under jurisdiction of the military's Southern Command, headquartered in Miami, the United States has built three new forward operating bases in Honduras.

U.S. officials have said that, with the Iraq War finished and the Afghanistan War winding down, more attention and money can be devoted to the war on drugs in Central America. That effort, with military, law enforcement and development components, complements U.S. companies' involvement in the region, including the traditional banana producers, Dole and Chiquita.

More:
http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/opinion/editorials/drug-interdiction-the-us-wades-more-deeply-into-honduras-638833/#ixzz1wqZjI4gN

[dixiegrrrrl]

5. I bet Central America is just thrilled that the USA will be focuing on it.

We are now using State Dept. helicoptors to attack and kill people?
STATE Dept????

[Judi Lynn]

7. Haven't heard of this even once before now. Can't imagine any possible reason for it. n/t

[dixiegrrrrl]

8. That was tongue in cheek, right?

I am thinking:
ports
and/or
natural gas/oil
and/or siting military bases
plus
there has been a dangerous outbreak of indeoendent behavior from those countries, complete with nationalizing
energy sectors.
I am sure the US is not too keen on that idea.

[Judi Lynn]

9. I was thinking that helicopters used for vaporizing people standing in their fields or front yards

would come from the Pentagon.

For sure, they never need ANY reason for slaughtering, torturing people in Latin America. It used to be they were helping Central or South Americans in their struggle against those terrifying commies, but as soon as Reagan claimed he had destroyed communism, it would have looked bad to keep claiming we were "helping" countries destroy rude "commies!" At that point, the poor people who were called "commies" were reborn as "narcotraffickers," and later, "terrorists."

It's enough to make a maggot gag. They accomplish this by more pompous, haughty posturing, strutting about claiming such great piety, and respect for human rights, etc., etc., oh, jeez.

[annm4peace]

4. Buy bananas from "Equal Exchange"

ask your local grocery to carry bananas from "Equal Exchange"..

http://beyondthepeel.com/



their coffee is good also

[Uncle Joe]

6. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, Judi Lynn.