Murphy v. Benson

164 F. Supp. 120, 1958 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3790
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. New York
DecidedJune 23, 1958
DocketCiv. 17610
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 164 F. Supp. 120 (Murphy v. Benson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Murphy v. Benson, 164 F. Supp. 120, 1958 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3790 (E.D.N.Y. 1958).

Opinion

BRUCHHAUSEN, District Judge.

This action was instituted by various property owners to restrain public authorities from spraying their lands with an insecticide, known as DDT. The spraying was part of a long term program to control or eradicate the gypsy moth, an insect known to defoliate trees.

Prior to the spraying of the subject area, in the late spring of 1957, the plaintiffs commenced their action, wherein they sought both a preliminary or temporary injunction and a permanent injunction. In accordance with the practice, the application for the preliminary injunction was based upon affidavits. After a hearing and consideration thereof, the application was denied by Judge Byers. The opinion is reported in D.C., 151 F.Supp. 786.

*122 Shortly thereafter the spraying, as planned, was commenced. It was completed early in June 1957. Thereafter issue was joined in the action and it proceeded to trial before this Court, without a jury.

While the spraying encompassed other portions of the northeastern section of the country, the issues herein are concerned principally with the plaintiffs and their property.

The plaintiffs, residents and property owners, located in the two Long Island counties of Nassau and Suffolk brought this action to enjoin or restrain the defendant Butler, the Federal official designated by his superiors to supervise the spraying operation in that area, and the defendant Carey, the State Commissioner of Agriculture, from committing trespasses upon their lands by means of low flying planes, discharging DDT thereon. The defendant Benson, the Federal Secretary of Agriculture, although named in the complaint, was not served with the papers and has not appeared as a party in the action.

The trial consumed almost a month. Some fifty witnesses testified, including a number of experts on the various phases of the case. Numerous exhibits were introduced into evidence.

While there are factual disputes, differences of opinion among those testifying as experts and complex legal questions, there is no substantial controversy as to the history of the gypsy moth, the measures taken through the years to control or eradicate the insect and the reasons therefor.

The Facts about the Gypsy Moth, the Measures Taken for Control and Eradication and the Reasons Therefor

In 1869, the gypsy moth, a leaf eating insect and one of the prime pests of forest, shade, fruit and ornamental trees in Europe, was imported into Medford, a suburb of Boston, by a French scientist, interested in experimentation. Larvae of the moth escaped from his home. The insect became established in nearby areas. The spread of the insect was slow at first, but some twenty years later the moths were so abundant in the Med-ford area as to cause the defoliation of extensive acreages. The townspeople-contributed a substantial sum of money for control measures.

Millions of dollars have been expended since then by the Federal and State Governments in efforts to control or eliminate the pest. However, surveys disclose that despite such activities, the threat of damage by the gypsy moth has-continued. The major infestations were-located in the New England States and in portions of New York and New Jersey. Between 1953 and 1956, inclusive, male-moths were recovered in numerous places on Long Island. In the fall and winter of 1956-1957 egg masses were found in-various parts of Long Island, in the area between Brookville on the west and Amagansett and Greenport on the east.. While there is no evidence of substantial defoliation in that area, more than six and a half million acres have been wholly or substantially defoliated in the northeastern States and more than 29' million acres, including three million acres in New York State were infected-in varying degrees. The danger of forest fires in these sections has increased. During the course of years, experts from the various State Governments and informed individuals and organizations have conducted studies, experimented and suggested plans to deal with the-situation, in conjunction with representatives of the Federal Department of Agriculture.

The potential range of the gypsy moth, extends westerly to the Mississippi River. In this area approximately one hundred million acres are susceptible to damage by the insect. It appears that wind currents, transportation of lumber,, conveyances and the like may be carriers of the larvae of the moth.

At a meeting in May 1952, the representatives of the council of State Governments called upon the Federal Agricultural Department to prepare a plan for the control or eradication of the *123 moth in the various States. In order to prevent the spread of the moth south and west of the infected areas, it was concluded that a so-called barrier zone, twenty-five miles in width, extending from the Adirondack Mountains to Long Island Sound should be established. In 1956, the National Plant Board, an organization comprised of Regulatory Officials from the 48 States, and others, recommended a spraying program in the barrier zone, comprising three million acres, for the purpose of eliminating the threat of spread of the moth to the southern and central States. The spraying of Long Island was included in the program.

During the past seventy years, the Government has expended large sums for the importation of predators and parasites, natural enemies of the gypsy moth and other destructive insects. This undertaking is a process of biological control, without the use of insecticides. It has not resulted in the elimination or eradication of the gypsy moth but has been helpful. The plaintiff Murphy, an experienced biologist, while claiming that biological control is feasible, conceded that the moth cannot be eliminated by such means. In more recent years that method has been supplemented by the use of insecticides, such as arsenate of lead and the chemical, known as DDT, consisting of fourteen parts carbon, nine parts hydrogen and five parts chlorine. The latter has come into extensive use during the past fifteen years. Although discovered much earlier, it wasn’t until World War II, that wide usage of it came .into play, first as an Army insecticide and thereafter in the forest and agricultural fields

The Effects of DDT upon the Health of Human Beings

Although the plaintiffs contend that "the chemical is deleterious to health and likely to cause future ailments they presented no evidence that they or anyone else were made ill by the spraying of DDT in the Long Island area.

A real difficulty presents itself in coming to a definite conclusion as to the overall effects of the chemical. DDT has not been in use for a sufficient length of time to definitely evaluate its potentials. Furthermore, there are very few experts possessing the requisite broad and intensive experience with this pesticide. It appears that the defendants’ expert, Dr. Hayes, is the only living physician in this country, who has engaged in experimental work as to the effect that DDT has on human beings. Coupled with these elements is the fact that some are so strongly in favor of organic farming, without the use of chemicals, or emphasize their preference for biological control that their judgments may be influenced by their leanings. Under these circumstances, it is appropriate that the experts’ testimony be scrutinized. Analysis of the Testimony of the Plaintiff’s Experts, Dr.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Hall v. Alampi
219 A.2d 330 (Supreme Court of New Jersey, 1966)
Murphy v. Benson
270 F.2d 419 (Second Circuit, 1959)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
164 F. Supp. 120, 1958 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3790, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/murphy-v-benson-nyed-1958.