WASHINGTON — Three environmental groups sued the Environmental Protection Agency yesterday in an attempt to force it to prevent lead poisoning of wildlife from spent ammunition and lost fishing tackle.
The lawsuit was filed in US District Court by the Center for Biological Diversity, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, and the hunters group Project Gutpile. It comes after the EPA denied their petition to ban lead ammunition and lead fishing tackle, which the groups say kills 10 million to 20 million birds and other animals a year by lead poisoning.
“The EPA has the ability to protect America’s wildlife from ongoing preventable lead poisoning, but continues to shirk its responsibility,’’ said Jeff Miller, conservation advocate with the Center for Biological Diversity.
The lawsuit asks a judge to order the EPA to develop rules to prevent wildlife poisoning from spent lead ammunition and fishing tackle.
Read the complete story by the AP at The Boston Globe.