US appeals court orders EPA to ban pesticide

washington A divided federal appeals court on Thursday ordered the US Environmental Protection Agency to ban a pesticide that critics say can harm children and farmers. The 2-1 decision by the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals in Seattle overturned former EPA commissioner Scott Pruitt's March 2017 denial of a petition by environmental groups to ban the use of chlorpyrifos on food crops."This shows that the EPA can't just ignore the science that this pesticide damages children's brains," Marisa Ordonia, a lawyer for Earthjustice, which represented petitioners, said in an interview. (Reuters)