Title: Richard Wallick Papers
Inclusive Dates: 2007-2012

Creator:

• Wallick, Richard, 1951-

Call Number: Mss 1178

Quantity: 2.6 cubic feet (2 records center cartons and 2 archives boxes)

Repository:

Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:

Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)

COLLECTION MAY BE STORED OFF-SITE: see catalog entry to request materials and for additional information.

Abstract:

Documents and correspondence concerning Freedom of Information Act requests submitted by Richard Wallick to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), National Organic Program (NOP), primarily related to inputs for USDA certified organic agricultural products. Wallick contended that some of these inputs were prohibited on the USDA National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances, and thus did not qualify for use in organic production. Wallick also pursued this issue in Wallick v. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Case No. CV-10-754 AC (D. Ore), a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court (District of Oregon).

Note:

Forms part of the Organic and Sustainable Agriculture Collection.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mss01178

Richard (Rick) Wallick was born in 1951. A computer engineer who purchases organic foods for health reasons, Wallick became concerned about the validity of organic claims for some food products. The Organic Materials Review Institute (OMRI), a non-profit organization tasked with approving materials permitted for use in organic production, reviews materials which the National Organic Program releases as the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances. Wallick cited a newspaper article published in The Sacramento Bee on December 28, 2008 that contended that a synthetic, prohibited nitrogen product was being used in a liquid fertilizer sold as allowable for organic production. In 2009, he filed consumer complaints with the State of Oregon Department of Justice, Civil Enforcement Division, concerning California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF), a certifier; New Seasons Market, a retail market; and California Liquid Fertilizer, a fertilizer company. He also filed Freedom of Information Act requests for similar violations of the National Organic Program production standards. Wallick contended that consumers were paying a premium for organic products that may not have actually been produced in accordance with organic standards, and that Oregon organic farmers who abide by NOP standards would be working at a disadvantage if California farmers were allowed to label products “organic” that were not in fact produced according to organic standards.

The August 20, 2009 AMS initial response to Wallick's FOIA request of August 2, 2009 claimed that no responsive documents were available. Wallick appealed this decision on September 9, 2009, and again received a response in December 2009 that there were no responsive records. On December 14, 2009, the agency's final response stated that it had not found any responsive records, noting that the plaintiff could pursue his case through judicial means. Consequently, on June 29, 2010, Wallick's attorney, Daniel J. Stotter, filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon for violation of the Freedom of Information Act (Richard Wallick v. U.S. Department of Agriculture, CV 10-754-AC). The agency issued a series of thirty-nine rolling releases of responsive documents between August 2010 and September 2011, enabling the parties in the case to reach a settlement in the spring of 2012; the case was dismissed on June 7, 2012.

Citing the USDA guidance on synthetic pesticide residues in compost used for organic crop production in the spring of 2015 as another example of weakening organic standards, Wallick notes that he may file further FOIA requests. He notes lawsuits filed by the Center for Food Safety, the Center for Environmental Health, and Beyond Pesticides in response to the USDA's guidance as evidence of consumer desire for adherence to transparent rulemaking processes, opportunity for public comment and participation, and compliance with the standards established by the Organic Foods Production Act.

The Wallick papers document, from a consumer's vantage point, the accountability of the USDA to its stakeholders in overseeing the organic certification system and its regulation, specifically the use of allowable and prohibited substances, and corrective action taken to maintain organic certification.

The papers are arranged by FOIA request, with the agency responses arranged chronologically thereunder. Researchers should note that the dates listed in the contents list for the USDA/AMS responses to FOIA requests are for the dates of the responses (i.e., when the records were released), not the dates of the responsive documents themselves (variously dated from 2007-2010).

FOIA Request No. 76-09, dated June 9, 2009, requested “documents relating to California Certified Organic Farmers, California Liquid Fertilizer, and State of California, and the decision to continue allowing use of the USDA organic label regardless of the use of a banned substance,” from January 2004 to the date of the request. The resulting twenty pages of documents consisted of emails and written correspondence. Wallick appealed the results of his request on September 15, 2009 (Appeal No. 12-09); some of the documents that were released in the series of rolling releases for FOIA No. 89-09 were also responsive to FOIA No. 76-09.

FOIA Request No. 89-09, dated August 1, 2009, sought “access to and copies of any and all documents, notes, e-mail, and other forms of correspondence with retailers, distributors, and others involved with the distribution of USDA Organic produce regarding the certification and/or de-certification of produce which [was] produced using ingredients not on the National List.” The lawsuit Wallick filed (Wallick v. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Case No. CV-10-754 AC (U.S. District Court, District of Oregon in Box 1, Folder 8) is also included under this heading:

Plaintiff Richard Wallick (hereinafter “Plaintiff”) brings this action to redress violation of the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”), 5 U.S.C. § 552 et.seq., by Defendant United States Department of Agriculture (“USDA”) in failing to provide Plaintiff with any responsive records for his August 2, 2009 FOIA request to the agency, seeking records on USDA regulation of organic food crops grown using substances not on the National Organic Program's list of allowed substances for organic food crops.

Responsive documents include Notices of Noncompliance and Proposed suspensions or Revocations issued by various certifying agencies to growers and handlers engaged in the production of organic food products who were not in compliance with organic regulations, correspondence about various aspects of the National Organic Program, and memoranda from the NOP concerning allowable substances in organic production.

In these notices, accredited certifying agencies sometimes asked for supporting documentation of necessary product records or reminded growers of what was needed for the next round of certification. These documents also include responses from growers who responded to the Notices of Non-compliances, performed corrective actions, and received (or continued to receive) organic certification. Many of the documents contained confidential or private information that was redacted by the USDA/AMS before it was released; in other instances, redacted information contained non-responsive information to Wallick's requests.

Other responsive documents (around 2336 pages) were withheld due to Exemption 7(A), 5 U.S.C. 522(b)(7)(A): information related to law enforcement purposes that could potentially interfere with enforcement proceedings; and Exemption 5 (143 pages): interagency or intra-agency correspondence regarding legal advice which would not be available to those not in litigation with that agency. Other documents relating to agency internal policy deliberations were also withheld.

FOIA Request No. 2-10, dated September 29, 2009, requested copies of documents and correspondence related to his previous FOIA requests, including the decision process for responding to his requests, from January 1, 2009 to the date of the request.

The series of thirty-nine rolling releases issued in response to Wallick's FOIA Request No. 89-09 was also responsive to Wallick's FOIA Request No. 96-10, dated June 29, 2010, which sought records from January 1, 2007 to the date of the request, concerning 1) instances of USDA or State Organic Programs and the “use of substances not authorized for use on organic food crops by the National Organic Program's National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances, and the continued organic certification of food crops upon which the unlisted ingredient has been used.” 2) communications with the NOSB regarding use of substances not on the National List, certification of crops grown with ingredients not on the National List, or continued certification of land on which any unlisted substance was used, and 3) correspondence with State Organic Programs or the national Association of State Organic Programs, regarding “use of ingredients not authorized for organic crops by the National Organic Program's National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances, and/or the continued certification of crops grown with ingredient(s) not on the National List, or continued certification of lands on which an unlisted ingredient has been used.”

FOIA 2013-AMS-00105-F, Wallick's request to the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) of September 5, 2012, sought access to documents between the USDA and other organizations concerning the decision to allow certifying agencies to continue organic certification of land and crops despite the use of unapproved substances for organic production (specifically synthetic fertilizers).

FOIA 2013-SEC-00130-F, a related request, sought access to the same information from the Office of the Secretary of the USDA.

Also included are two other groups of records: a set of corrected notations and additions to redacted records released in July 2011 and an extensive set (approximately 1900 pages) of previously redacted records with additional information released in February 2012. The latter set of pages includes the original Bates numbering.

Acquisition Information

Presented by Richard Wallick, Banks, Oregon, April 16, 2015. Accession Number: M2015-174

Processing Information

Processed by Julia Wong, December 2015.

Mss 1178	Consumer complaints filed with State of Oregon Department of Justice, Civil Enforcement Division
Box   1 Folder   1	California Liquid Fertilizer, File No. FF0562-09, 2009
Box   1 Folder   2	[California] Senate Committee on Food and Agriculture Hearing on: Assuring the Integrity of Organic Food and the Use of Organic Fertilizers: rough draft, 2009 February 3
Box   1 Folder   3	Correspondence, legal documents, press releases, 2007-2012
Box   1 Folder   4	New Seasons Market, File No. FF7160-09, 2009
	Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests to Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS)
	No. 76-09, 2009 June 9
Box   1 Folder   5	AMS response: emails and other correspondence, 2009 July
	No. 89-09, 2009 August 1
	Correspondence
Box   1 Folder   6	Regarding original request, 2009
Box   1 Folder   7	Regarding Appeals No. 11-09 and 96-09, 2009 September
Box   1 Folder   8	Lawsuit regarding violation of the FOIA (Richard Wallick v. U.S. Department of Agriculture, CV 10-754-AC), 2010 June
	USDA responses and documents
Box   1 Folder   9-10	1: Nos. 1-190, California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF) Notices of Non-compliances, 2010 August 6
Box   1 Folder   11-12	2: Nos. 191-362, correspondence with the agency regarding the National Organic Program (NOP), 2010 August 9
Box   1 Folder   13-15	3: Nos. 363-702, CCOF Notices of Non-compliances (363-625) and NOP memoranda regarding substances used in organic production (626-702), 2010 August 20
Box   1 Folder   16-18	4: Nos. 703-972, Notices of Non-compliances and Proposed Suspensions or Revocations issued by Quality Assurance International (QAI), Quality Certification Services (QCS), Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management, and OCPP/Pro-Cert Canada, 2010 August
Box   1 Folder   19-20	5: Nos. 973-1135, Notices of Non-compliances and Proposed Suspensions or Revocations issued by OEFFA Organic Certification, Texas Department of Agriculture, State of Washington Department of Agriculture, Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont, ABCERT, AGRIOR Ltd., ARGENCERT, ASCO, Baystate Organic Certifiers, BIOS, BioAgricert, Certified Organic Inc., CERES, Eco-Logica, ECCYSA ETKO, and the Colorado Department of Agriculture, 2010 September 2
Box   1 Folder   21-23	6: Nos. 1136-1502, emails from NOP staff members regarding use of prohibited substances in organic products, 2010 September 10
Box   1 Folder   24-25	7: Nos. 1503-1647, Notices of Non-compliances and Proposed Suspensions or Revocations issued by Oregon Tilth Certified Organic (OTCO), 2010 September 16
Box   1 Folder   26-27	8: Nos. 1648-1856, Notices of Non-compliances and Proposed Suspensions or Revocations issued by Oregon Tilth Certified Organic (OTCO), 2010 September 23
Box   1 Folder   28-30	9: Nos. 1857-2187, Notices of Non-compliances and Proposed Suspensions or Revocations issued by Oregon Tilth Certified Organic (OTCO) (1857-2068) and emails from Dr. Barbara Robinson, director of the NOP, regarding prohibited substances in organic products (2069-2187), 2010 October 1
Box   1 Folder   31-32	10: Nos. 2188-2407, Notices of Non-compliances and Proposed Suspensions or Revocations issued by the Montana Department of Agriculture, Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association (MOFGA), NOFA-NY Certified Organic LLC, Organic Crop Improvement Association (OCIA), OneCert Inc., Organizacion Internacional Agropecuaria (OIA), Pennsylvania Certified Organic (PCO), State of Nevada Department of Agriculture, New Mexico Organic Commodity, Monterey County California Agricultural Commissioner, Georgia Crop Improvement Association, Indiana Certified Organic LLC (ICO), State of Idaho Department of Agriculture, and Global Organic Alliance Inc. (GAO), 2010 October 7
Box   1 Folder   33-34	11: Nos. 2408-2562, Notices of Non-compliances and Proposed Suspensions or Revocations issued by the Hawaii Organic Farmers Association (HORA), 2010 October 14
Box   1 Folder   35	12: Nos. 2563-2669, Notices of Non-compliances and Proposed Suspensions or Revocations issued by IBD, International Certification Services Inc. (ICS), Maryland Department of Agriculture, Midwest Organic Services Association (MOSA), and the Minnesota Crop Improvement Association (MCIA), 2010 October 21
Box   1 Folder   36	13: Nos. 2670-2712, complaints submitted to the NOP Compliance and Enforcement (C&E) Division regarding use of prohibited substances (2670-2712) and reports regarding five investigations related to certified organic operations that were alleged to have used prohibited substances (2702-2712), 2010 October 29
Box   1 Folder   37	14: Nos. 2713-2792, documents from California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF), California Liquid Fertilizer (CLF), and the California Department of Agriculture relating to use of a prohibited substance and continued use of the USDA certified organic label (also responsive documents to FOIA Request 76-09, dated June 9, 2009), 2010 November 4
Box   2 Folder   1	15: 2793-2914, Richard Matthews, Director of Standards Division (NOP), emails sent in January 2007, 2010 November 10
Box   2 Folder   2	16: Nos. 2915-2954, Richard Matthews, Director of Standards Division (NOP), emails sent in February 2007, 2010 November 22
Box   2 Folder   3	17: Nos. 2955-3007, Dr. Barbara Robinson, Acting Director (NOP), emails sent in 2008, 2010 November 23
Box   2 Folder   4	18: Nos. 3008-3115, Miles McEvoy, Deputy Administrator (NOP), emails and memos, 2010 December 1
Box   2 Folder   5	19: Nos. 3116-3186, Richard Matthews, Director of Standards Division (NOP), emails sent in March-May 2007, 2010 November 22
Box   2 Folder   6	20: Nos. 3187-3218, Richard Matthews, Director of Standards Division (NOP), emails sent in June-August 2007, 2010 December 16
Box   2 Folder   7-8	21: Nos. 3219-3438, documents from accredited certifying agencies from the Office of the Inspector General's (OIG) audit of the NOP: Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) for substances for which approval was sought as part of an Organic Systems Plan (3219-3310), Quality Assurance International (QAI) Inspector Performance Summary Reports (3311-3396), and miscellaneous reports regarding residue testing (3397-3438), 2010 December 22
Box   2 Folder   9	22: Nos. 3439-3520, documents from accredited certifying agencies from the Office of the Inspector General's (OIG) audit of the NOP: Audit, Reviews and Compliance Branch of the Livestock and Seed Programs Quality System Audit Reports (3439-3479) and miscellaneous documents (3480-3520), 2010 December 28
Box   2 Folder   10	23: Nos. 3521-3568, Richard Matthews, Director of Standards Division (NOP), emails sent in September-December 2007, 2011 January 7
Box   2 Folder   11	24: Nos. 3569-3669, Richard Matthews, Director of Standards Division (NOP), emails sent in January-March 2008, 2011 January 14
Box   2 Folder   12	25: Nos. 3670-3700, Richard Matthews, Director of Standards Division (NOP), emails sent in April-June 2008, 2011 January 20
Box   2 Folder   13	26: Nos. 3701-3744, Richard Matthews, Director of Standards Division (NOP), emails sent in July-September 2008, 2011 January 28
Box   2 Folder   14	27: Nos. 3745-3821, Richard Matthews, Director of Standards Division (NOP), emails sent in October-December 2008, 2011 February 4
Box   2 Folder   15	28: Nos. 3822-3897, Richard Matthews, Director of Standards Division (NOP), emails sent in October-December 2008, 2011 February 10
Box   2 Folder   16	29: Nos. 3898-3954, Richard Matthews, Director of Standards Division (NOP), emails sent in April-June 2009, 2011 February 18
Box   2 Folder   17	30: Nos. 3955-3979, Richard Matthews, Director of Standards Division (NOP), emails sent in July-September 2009, 2011 February 25
Box   2 Folder   18	31: Nos. 3980-4088, Robert Pooler, Agricultural Marketing Specialist (NOP), email correspondence, January-February 2007, 2011 March 4
Box   2 Folder   19	32: Nos. 4089-4130, Robert Pooler, Agricultural Marketing Specialist (NOP), email correspondence, March-September 2007, 2011 March 10
Box   2 Folder   20	33: Nos. 4131-4155, Robert Pooler, Agricultural Marketing Specialist (NOP), email correspondence, October-December 2007, 2011 March 17
Box   2 Folder   21	34: Nos. 4156-4256, Robert Pooler, Agricultural Marketing Specialist (NOP), email correspondence from January-March 2008, 2011 March 24
Box   2 Folder   22	35: Nos. 4257-4287, Robert Pooler, Agricultural Marketing Specialist (NOP), email correspondence from April-June 2008, 2011 March 31
Box   2 Folder   23	36: Nos. 4288-4359, Quality Assurance International report to Miles McEvoy, Deputy Administrator (NOP), regarding alleged prohibited inputs by Expanding Horizon (4288-4324) and OMRI report to McEvoy regarding compost sampling (4325-4359), 2011 April 8
Box   2 Folder   24-29	37: Nos. 4360-5017, Robert Pooler, Agricultural Marketing Specialist (NOP), email correspondence from June 2008-December 2009 (4360-4840); Dr. Barbara Robinson, former acting director of the NOP who relinquished management of the NOP in 2009 and retired in January 2010, email correspondence from January 2009-September 2009 (4841-4995); Arthur Neal, former Associate Deputy Administrator of the NOP, email correspondence from January 2007-June 2010 (4996-5017), 2011 April 15
Box   2 Folder   30	[38]: Nos. 5013-5041, documents and correspondence regarding certification and/or de-certification of produce produced with ingredients not on the National List, 2011 April 20
Box   2 Folder   31	[39]: Nos. 5042-5061, complaints filed with the California Department of Food and Agriculture regarding alleged violations of the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990, 2011 September 26
	No. 2-10, 2009 September 29
Box   2 Folder   32	AMS response, documents and correspondence related to Wallick's previous FOIA requests, 2010 April 26
	No. 96-10, 2010 June 29 Note: Records released for FOIA Request No. 89-09 were also considered responsive documents for FOIA Request No. 96-10. See the USDA/AMS responses to No. 89-09.
Box   2 Folder   33	AMS response, 2010 July 16
	No. 2013-AMS-00105-F, 2012 September 5
	AMS responses
Box   2 Folder   34	2012 October 15
Box   2 Folder   35	2013 March 8
Box   2 Folder   35 (continued)	2013 March 14
Box   2 Folder   36	2014 September 4
	No. 2013-SEC-00130-F
Box   2 Folder   37	AMS response, 2013 January 9
Box   2 Folder   38	Corrected notations and additions to redacted records, 2011 July 14
Box   2 Folder   39-44	Records previously redacted under FOIA Exemption 4, Nos. 1-850, 2012 February 21
Box   3 Folder   1-10	Records previously redacted under FOIA Exemption 4, Nos. 851-2299, 2012 February 21
Box   4 Folder   1-4	Records previously redacted under FOIA Exemption 4, Nos. 2300-2669, 2012 February 21 Note: Approximately 1900 pages with original Bates numbering.
	USDA Office of Inspector General request, OIG Log No. 10-00114, 2009 August
Box   4 Folder   5	OIG response, 2011 September 9