North Dakota

Pesticide cancer claims at issue in bill headed for North Dakota Senate vote

Published

12 months ago

April 12, 2025

Pesticide cancer claims at issue in bill headed for North Dakota Senate vote

BISMARCK (North Dakota Monitor) – North Dakota legislators have been wrestling with a pesticide bill backed by agricultural groups that would make it harder for people to win cancer liability lawsuits against the farm chemical industry.

House Bill 1318 would shield the maker of Roundup and other farm chemical manufacturers from lawsuits from people who say they were not adequately warned about potential dangers of the chemicals. The bill tries to make clear that the product label approved by the federal Environmental Protection Agency gives consumers sufficient warning about any possible hazards.

Bayer, the parent company of Monsanto, the maker of Roundup, has been hit with lawsuits from people who have cancer and contend they were not adequately warned about exposure to the herbicide and its active ingredient glyphosate.

Sarah Hall Lovas, representing the North Dakota Agriculture Consultants Association and the North Dakota Grain Growers Association, says the bill is needed to ensure that farmers have access to farm chemicals such as Roundup.

Opponents of the bill say it provides too much legal protection for the chemical manufacturers.

Jake Schmitz of Fargo said the dangers of chemicals are sometimes not known until decades later. With the EPA being immune to lawsuits and a potential shield in place for manufacturers, the health care costs associated with a hazardous chemical would impact taxpayers, he said.

“It’s going to fall back on Medicaid and Medicare to take care of these people now that they’ve got the cancer diagnosis,” Schmitz said. “So this is going to end up, over time, costing the state of North Dakota a good amount of money.”

Sen. Larry Luick, R-Fairmount, chair of the Senate Agriculture and Veteran Affairs Committee, conducts a public hearing on Jan. 17, 2025. (Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor)

The next step for House Bill 1318 is a vote by the North Dakota Senate. The bill passed the House unanimously in January but has been heavily debated in the Senate Agriculture and Veterans Affairs Committee.

Committee chair Sen. Larry Luick, R-Fairmount, said there has been a lot of input from both supporters and opponents on what is seen as a national issue. Luick, who is a farmer, said he understands that farmers need pesticides for crop production but also realizes people have concerns about cancer and what is going into their food.

After about two weeks of deliberations, the committee on Thursday added an amendment to the bill and gave it a do-pass recommendation.

If approved by the Senate, the bill would go back to the House.

While Roundup has been a big part of the discussion, the bill applies to all registered pesticides in North Dakota.

The bill has been the subject of television ads and large newspaper ads from a group called the Modern Ag Alliance that is actively supporting similar bills in multiple states.

The bill also has the support of the North Dakota Ag Coalition, which has more than 45 member organizations. It officially supported only one other bill this legislative session.

Among the members are the North Dakota Farmers Union, the state’s largest ag group, which suggested some of the amended language in the Senate committee.

“It was important to us to ensure that the scope of the bill was specific, and the amendment that the Ag Committee adopted achieves that,” Matt Perdue, policy analyst for the North Dakota Farmers Union said in an interview.

Nancy Johnson, executive director of the North Dakota Soybean Growers Association, said the huge payouts that Bayer and other ag chemical companies have made in product liability cases is hindering the ability of those companies to invest in developing new, safer alternatives.

“It really is aimed at keeping tools in the farmer’s tool box,” she said.

In her testimony on the bill, Lovas cites a 2022 9th Circuit Court of Appeals decision that threatened to end the use of glyphosate. The EPA reviewed the glyphosate label and stuck with its position that the product does not cause cancer.

Germany-based Bayer has been battered by court decisions from consumers who contend the product does cause cancer. A jury last month ordered Bayer to pay more than $2 billion in a Georgia case.

Schmitz is a chiropractor and nutritionist who grew up on a farm near Williston. He said his father and grandfather both died of cancer.

He cited the fact that the International Agency for Research on Cancer has concluded that glyphosate probably does cause cancer as a reason to oppose the shield law.

The Dakota Resource Council, the North Dakota Wildlife Federation and North Dakota Association for Justice are among other opponents of the bill.

Schmitz and Lovas agree that the bill would still allow for lawsuits against a manufacturer for things such as a bad batch of the chemical or other product defects. A property owner could still sue an applicator for an issue such as the product drifting into an unwanted area.

In an article earlier this year, the National Agriculture Law Center said it may be up to the U.S. Supreme Court to decide if such shield laws are valid.

Bayer’s website says it is also hopeful for a Supreme Court ruling in favor of laws such as the one proposed in North Dakota.

The National Agriculture Law Center concludes that “Plaintiffs in states with a pesticide liability limitation bill would likely face a more challenging litigation landscape than in states without such a bill. However, the exact impacts will be unclear until such a bill becomes law.”

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North Dakota

HHS reminds North Dakotans that services and support are available to prevent child abuse during Child Abuse Prevention Month

Published

6 hours ago

April 8, 2026

Press Room

HHS reminds North Dakotans that services and support are available to prevent child abuse during Child Abuse Prevention Month

North Dakota Health and Human Services (HHS) is reminding North Dakotans that services are available to strengthen families in recognition of Child Abuse Prevention Month. Read the Child Abuse Prevention Month proclamation.

North Dakota reported 532 confirmed cases of child abuse and/or neglect in calendar year 2025.

“Although even one case is one too many, based on the number of assessments completed, the percentage of confirmed cases remains consistent compared to the previous year,” said HHS Children and Family Services Prevention and Protection Administrator Kirsten Hansen.

To help children and youth remain safely at home, HHS offers FamilyFirst Services, which are designed to strengthen families through support for both children and their parents or caregivers. Services are based on the specific needs of the family and focus on practical support for parents; behavioral health, including both mental health and addiction; and other needs. Visit FamilyFirst Services for more details.

Throughout April, several agencies across North Dakota will be hosting in-person and virtual events in recognition of Child Abuse Prevention Month. Visit Families Flourish ND for more information about upcoming events.

April is also a time to remind people that North Dakota has a law that allows parents to turn to approved Baby Safe Haven sites if they are unable to safely care for their infant. Parents can safely surrender an infant up to 1 year of age without fear of prosecution or questions. Infants must be unharmed and given to an on-duty staff member at a hospital or other approved location.

Reporting suspected child abuse or neglect
HHS reminds individuals that if they suspect a child in North Dakota is being abused or neglected, they should call the statewide toll-free Child Abuse & Neglect Reporting Line at 1-833-958-3500. If it’s an emergency and a child is in immediate danger, call 911.

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North Dakota

Anchorage’s Mac Swanson charges into Frozen Four with University of North Dakota

Published

18 hours ago

April 7, 2026

Press Room

Anchorage’s Mac Swanson charges into Frozen Four with University of North Dakota

Universtiy of North Dakota’s Mac Swanson, of Anchorage, skates with the puck during a game against Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs at Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, North Dakota, on Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025. (Photo by Russell Hons / North Dakota Athletics)

Coming into his sophomore season at the University of North Dakota, Mac Swanson was facing more uncertainty than at any point in his young hockey career.

By his own admission, Swanson, 20, struggled at times on the ice as a freshman. And after the 2024-25 season, the Fighting Hawks had replaced their head coach, introducing another variable.

But first-year coach Dane Jackson has now led UND to a 29-9-1 record, and Swanson has added multiple dimensions to his game in his second year of college hockey.

Now Swanson and UND are among the final quartet of teams playing for a national championship this weekend at the Frozen Four in Las Vegas.

The Hawks take on Wisconsin on Thursday at 4:30 p.m. Alaska time with a chance to advance to the championship. That game will be preceded at 1 p.m. by the first semifinal, pitting Michigan against Denver, which is coached by Anchorage’s David Carle. Both games are scheduled to be broadcast on ESPN2.

A mainstay on UND’s second line, Swanson has added strength, improved his scoring and taken on more responsibility on defense.

“I felt confident throughout the year,” Swanson said. “My goal-scoring has improve and obviously we have a great team this year. It’s easy to play with those guys.”

When UND announced it was replacing longtime coach Brad Berry, Swanson said players were in a holding pattern. But Jackson, who was on the UND staff for nearly two decades before taking the head coaching role, helped maintain continuity for the players after a couple weeks of wondering who would lead the team.

“There was a lot of uncertainty in the program for the first time in a while,” Swanson said. “It was definitely a weird time for all of us that were kind of deciding whether to stay or transfer out. But when coach Jackson got the job, we all felt pretty confident in him and his abilities, so we really did think that we would have a good team this year.”

University of North Dakota’s Mac Swanson, of Anchorage, looks for an open teammate during a game between the Arizona State Sun Devils and the Fighting Hawks at Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks on Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025. (Photo by Russell Hons / North Dakota Athletics)

Swanson described Jackson as a “hard but fair coach” and said the announcement secured his future with UND.

“I love my time here,” he said. “I love playing at The Ralph (Engelstad Arena), and I didn’t really want to leave at all. So I’m happy with where I’m at.”

Swanson’s production this season has been consistent. He’s seventh on the team in scoring, with 11 goals and 17 assists in 39 games. He showed a major uptick in his goal-scoring ability, after notching just two as a freshman.

Swanson believes his progression at UND is similar to what he was able to accomplish with the Fargo Force, where he played before signing with the Fighting Hawks. There he developed into a much more dynamic offensive player in his second season with the USHL team. Swanson has been especially effective the last half of the season with 13 points in his last 15 games.

“I think (my game) has evolved a little bit,” he said. “I’ve really tried to round out my two-way game. I started penalty killing this year too, which just adds another dimension to my game and makes me more valuable to the team.”

Mac’s dad, Brian, had a standout hockey career at Colorado College and was a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award in 1999. Having his dad as a sounding board has been invaluable as he’s progressed through his college career.

“He’s always there for me,” Swanson said. “But he never forces anything upon me, which I think is a good thing. He obviously is there for me whenever I need to talk or just a quick text before or after a game. … It’s great to have someone who’s been through everything I’m going through.”

Part of Swanson’s offseason mandate was to add strength. In Alaska over last summer, he worked out independently as well as at Mac’s Strength & Power in Eagle River, operated by his cousin.

“It gave me a good opportunity to grow in some areas I needed to,” he said.

The Frozen Four is shaping up to be one of the most interesting in recent history. The four teams have the four most NCAA championships in history, led by Denver’s 10 and followed by Michigan (9), UND (8) and Wisconsin (6).

“It’s really cool it’s kind of all these blue-blood programs,” he said. “Obviously we’ll try not to focus on too much of the stuff going on in Vegas and just focus on us.”

UND was dominant in reaching the Frozen Four, winning a pair of games by a combined 8-0 score in the Regional at Sioux Falls, South Dakota. He had family in attendance for those games and in the week and a half since has received plenty of messages from friends and family.

“Obviously you feel that support being from Alaska,” he said. “When someone is doing well, everyone is happy for them, which I think’s pretty cool about the hockey community back home.”

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