Closing arguments begin in lost crop lawsuit - BLM & herbicides

After nearly 70 days of testimony, a federal case involving thousands of acres of herbicide-damaged farmland neared an end Wednesday as attorneys gave closing arguments over who was to blame for the damage. More than 100 people packed the courtroom and overflowed into the hallway as the arguments began in Boise's U.S. District Courthouse. The six-year-old case pits more than 130 farmers against the Bureau of Land Management and the maker of the powerful herbicide Oust, E.I. DuPont de Nemours and Co. Among the questions posed in the case: Was Oust labeled and promoted correctly by DuPont, did the BLM apply it properly, did the agency know that the application would put nearby crops at risk, and was the federal government negligent when it decided to use the herbicide? In an agriculture-driven state - where many lawmakers are ranchers and farmers, and where some of the most prominent residents rose to power from potato fields - the emotions behind the lawsuit were high. The lawsuit arose after range fires burned across southern Idaho in 1999 and 2000 and federal land managers decided to combat invasive weeds by spreading Oust on scorched public land. But the winds picked up, the powdery herbicide blew across nearby crops, and farmers watched as seasons of work wilted and died...AP