Josephine County has agreed to hold off enforcing a ban on genetically modified crops until a lawsuit against the county by a former GMO grower is settled in court.The Daily Courier reports that Josephine County Legal Counsel Wally Hicks said the Board of Commissioners decided to suspend the Sept. 4 deadline for self-reporting by GMO growers.
The county announced in July that farmers growing GMO crops must contact the Sheriff's Office with their name, crop location and crop type, plus a phase-out plan to be done by Sept. 4.
County voters passed the GMO ban in May 2014, joining Jackson County, but only after the state Legislature passed a resolution forbidding local bans. Jackson County was exempted because its ballot measure was under way earlier.
Robert A. White Jr. and Shelly White, who grew GMO sugar beets on their farm outside Cave Junction, sued the county last week.
Hicks said because the plaintiffs' attorney was going to file a temporary restraining order, and because there are no known GMO growers now, the Board of Commissioners agreed to suspend enforcement.
The attorney for the Whites, John DiLorenzo of Portland, issued a statement Friday thanking the county for putting enforcement of the ban on hold.
"We're grateful for the county's willingness to stay enforcement pending resolution of the Whites' complaint that the GMO crop ban violates a state law that expressly pre-empts local crop bans like Josephine County's," he said. The Whites had about 50 acres of sugar beet starts, and lost money when they leased additional land to rotate the crop, DiLorenzo said.
Hicks said the two parties will begin filing motions and documents in the fall and the case would likely not be settled until 2016.
Anti-GMO activists believe the state's attempt to block local GMO bans was illegally backdated, and Hicks said that the anti-GMO group Oregonians for Safe Farms and Families will be intervenors in the case.
Mary Middleton, organizer of the local drive against GMOs and leader for Oregonians for Safe Farms and Families, said in a statement that it believes the courts will not "submit to out-of-state corporate bullies and will instead side with the citizens of Josephine County."
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