Two California Papers Cleared To Publish Ingredients Of Disputed Spray -- For Now

By: E&P Staff Two California papers, the daily Santa Cruz Sentinel and the alternative Monterey County Weekly are battling a manufacturer over the right to publish the inert ingredients of a controversial spray the state wants to use to eliminate an invasive, crop-eating moth.

The papers maintain their First Amendment right to publish information is at stake, while the bio-pesticide manufacturer, Suterra LLC, says the publications are violating trade secrets involved in formulating the spray with the brand name CheckMate OLR-F. Suterra has sued both papers to block publication of the ingredients, and the Monterey County Weekly has sued Suterra for trying to prevent publication.

The inert ingredients were first published in late September by the Sentinel, which said it received them from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The California agriculture department, which began the spraying program, has refused to disclose the list of ingredients, but said they are not harmful to humans or the environment.

The ingredients include polymethylene polyphenyl isocyanate (PPI), which has been linked to respiratory problems. About 100 Monterey County residents complained of health problems after the spray was used in September.

After Suterra threatened a lawsuit, the Sentinel removed the list of ingredients from its Web site. The Weekly, however, published the list in its next issue, citing the Sentinel's reporting.

Tuesday, the first round in the lawsuit fight went to the newspapers, with Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge David Yaffe ruling against Suterra's request for a temporary restraining order on publication.

According to an account in the alternative paper by Kera Abraham, the judge said he didn't see enough evidence that the inert ingredients were still a trade secret after they had been made public not only by the newspaper, but by the EPA. He set another hearing for December.

But Suterra and the papers were scheduled to be back in court Thursday on the manufacturer's demand that documents relating to CheckMate's composition be sealed. The judge is also expected to rule on a request to lift the temporary restraining order against spraying.