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Post-presidential debate poll shows a shift in WI; Teamsters won't endorse in presidential race after releasing internal polling showing most members support Trump; IL energy jobs growth is strong but lacks female workers; Pregnant, Black Coloradans twice as likely to die than the overall population.

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The Teamsters choose not to endorse a presidential candidate, county officials in Texas fight back against state moves to limit voter registration efforts, and the FBI investigate suspicious packages sent to elections offices in at least 17 states.

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A USDA report shows a widening gap in rural versus urban health, a North Carolina county remains divided over a LGBTQ library display, and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz' policies are spotlighted after his elevation to the Democratic presidential ticket.

EPA Taking Heat for "Failing to Protect Farmworkers"

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Thursday, May 31, 2018   

LANSING, Mich. — A new lawsuit accuses the Environmental Protection Agency of putting farmworkers in Michigan, as well as other states, at increased risk of pesticide exposure.

Earthjustice and Farmworker Justice are suing the agency for its failure to issue a notice that updated pesticide training materials are available under the Worker Protection Standard passed in 2015. Earthjustice staff attorney Hannah Chang said the materials have been ready for more than a year, and are needed to protect workers and their families from chemical poisoning.

"It makes no sense to withhold this type of training from people who really need it, who EPA have recognized need it to protect themselves,” Chang said. “I don't know what their justifications are. I'm sure they'll provide some. But in the meantime, there are tens of thousands of workers who are not getting the kind of training they should be getting."

In Michigan, the number of migrant and seasonal farmworkers and their family members is estimated to be more than 94,000. An EPA spokesperson said the agency does not comment on pending litigation. Attorneys general in California, Maryland and New York filed similar lawsuits against the EPA on Wednesday.

Chang said agriculture is among the most hazardous occupations, and argued these workers are being kept in the dark about the best ways to prevent injury from pesticides.

"Pesticide exposures are not just acute, but also chronic exposures - from daily, minimal exposures over a long period of time that may not result in an obvious poisoning incident but have chronic well-documented cancer and non-cancer health effects on workers,” she said.

She adds the EPA is also reconsidering other federal safeguards for pesticides.

"This piece of it is a smaller piece of a larger effort by this administration to roll back on some very common sense safeguards that have already been put into place by the Obama administration," Chang said.

Earthjustice has already filed more than 85 lawsuits against the Trump Administration.


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