A lawsuit brought by the fund in Michigan led to nearly every city stopping using DDT. In Western Michigan, a delay of one year was caused by dieldrin. A lawsuit brought against Milwaukee forced it to cease using DDT in its fight against Dutch elms disease. Another suit, filed together with Citizens Natural Resource Association, led to the State of Wisconsin banning DDT.
1972 saw the group’s most significant achievement: the “The” Environmental Protection Administration bans DDTWith minor exceptions. This ban was based on a lawsuit that the E.D.F. Other groups, including the Sierra Club had filed lawsuits against the federal government.
Cooley, unlike Mr. Wurster, was not an expert in DDT and did not testify in the lawsuits. While he continued to teach, he worked in the background for the Environmental Defense Fund. He took students on river and wildlife trips and advised Students for Environmental Quality. This club was started at his high school in 1970 and provided a forum for its members to discuss solutions to problems like pollution in Swan Lake.
It served as a vehicle for students to investigate and learn about other issues, and then plot a course, Mr. Cooley explained to the South County Retired Educators Associations newsletter.
Arthur Paul Cooley was a Long Island native, born in Southampton on June 2, 1934. He was raised in Quogue. Harvey Cooley was his father and was Quogue’s mayor. Helen (Coller) Cooley was his mother and a homemaker. She also made furniture.
Cooley received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in biology at Cornell University. He joined the Bellport High School staff in 1956. He also taught biology, general science and mathematics, as well as ornithology and earth science. He also taught a course on wild foods and gardening.
