Yannacone v. Dennison

139050/1966
April 25, 1966
Final judgment
United States, County of Suffolk

Individuals
Carol A. Yannacone, individually and on the behalf of all the people of the Country of Suffolk
H. Lee Dennison, Suffolk County Executive, Suffolk County Mosquito Control Commission, County of Suffolk
Victor John Yannacone, Jr

Civil court
, Organochlorine, DDT (Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane)
Halt the Commission’s use of DDT.
Supreme Court of the State of New York of County of Suffolk, United States

December 2, 1967
Negative
The complaint is dismissed.

Suffolk County residents filed suit against the use of the insecticide DDT on April 25, 1966. On August 15, 1966, the court issued a temporary injunction prohibiting the use of DDT until the trial’s completion. However, on Dec.2, 1967, The complaint is dismissed. The court said: “We have not been able to find a satisfactory foundation on which to base our interference with the acts complained of as being wholly unjustifiable or so manifestly and broadly injurious as to compel their cessation. Plaintiff’s remedy would seem to be better and more properly located with the policy making legislative unit as opposed to the policy executing body the focal point of this lawsuit. This complaint must be dismissed.” On the day that Judge Stanislaw announced his verdict, the Suffolk County Mosquito Commission announced that it would not use DDT for at least “a year or two” and was unlikely ever to use it again. The Suffolk County Board of Supervisors declared its official opposition to DDT: the first steps towards banning this insecticide definitively.