Sunday, Sep. 27, 2009

Lawsuit weighs atrazine's threat to water supplies

Herbicide industry questions potential link to cancer

EDWARDSVILLE -- A Madison County class-action lawsuit filed in 2004 over the use of the popular herbicide atrazine is gaining steam, and one lawyer says it could reshape farming practices nationwide.

Atrazine is an economical pesticide that is used on most corn and grain sorghum grown in the United States. About 80 million pounds of atrazine are used annually in the United States to control broadleaf and other weeds.

The lawsuit was filed by Steve Tillery on behalf of the Holiday Shores Sanitary District. The suit, against various makers and distributors of the pesticide, claims atrazine runoff from farming operations pollutes water supplies. The suit also claims atrazine breaks down into cancer-causing substances.

The defendants, however, argue they've followed federal regulations which have governed atrazine for decades. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says atrazine is safe in drinking water at 3 parts per billion or less -- about a spoonful in an Olympic-size swimming pool.

For now, Holiday Shores is the only plaintiff in the suit, but Tillery wants the plaintiff class to include more water districts in Illinois. He's in the process of adding about eight more districts to the case, and says more want to sign on.

"There are about 80 water providers in Illinois that have atrazine contamination," Tillery said. "There are other cities that are going to join it. They've already contacted us."

Tillery said any Illinois water provider that gets water from a river -- including the Mississippi, Illinois and Kaskaskia -- has atrazine contamination.

Kurtis Reeg, an attorney for Syngenta, the maker of atrazine, said the chemical has been monitored by the federal government since it was first sold in the United States in 1959.

"There've been 6,000 studies which have been looked at by the U.S. EPA regarding atrazine," Reeg said. "They're basically trying to say that federal regulation is meaningless."

Some recent studies have suggested atrazine can cause cancer and other health problems at rates lower than 3 parts per billion. Tillery said studies are indicating that atrazine, even in doses lower than the EPA-approved level, causes cancers, low birth weights and deformities of sex organs. The number of boys being born with deformities, Tillery said, is "really alarming."

Syngenta says those studies are unreliable and pale in comparison to the number of studies that the EPA has relied on to regulate the chemical.

Reeg said, "From a practical perspective, you could have a local judge and a local jury not only substituting their judgment for the EPA, but telling farmers across the state of Illinois what herbicides they can use on their corn, which in the state of Illinois is a substantial economic engine."

Tillery said, "I would imagine that any decision on atrazine would be an important decision, but it wouldn't be controlling beyond this case. This case has plaintiffs and defendants, and that's it."

The value of state's annual corn harvest is about $4 billion, according to the state Department of Agriculture.

Recently, the EPA has hinted that it might be toughening atrazine rules.

Steve Owens, an assistant EPA administrator, issued a statement saying EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson "has made it a priority to examine how we manage and assess the risk of chemicals, including pesticides, and the Obama EPA will take a hard look at atrazine and other substances. This thorough review will rely on transparency and sound science, including independent scientific peer review. We will continue to closely track new scientific developments and will determine whether a change in our regulatory position is appropriate."

Reeg said farmers want atrazine.

"It's cheap, it works well, and it covers a broad spectrum of weeds," Reeg said. "If the grower community loses atrazine, they're going to have to substitute multiple products, all of which are more expensive and have their own health, environmental and safety issues."

The lawsuit does not seek compensation for anyone getting sick from atrazine. Rather, it seeks compensation for water districts for installing and operating water-filtering equipment. The suit also seeks punitive damages.

The lawsuit was moved to federal court for a while, but then moved back to Madison County Circuit Court. Circuit Judge Dan Stack in July 2008 denied a motion to dismiss the suit. He had the motion under consideration for more than two years.

Stack is retiring soon, so the case has been reassigned to Circuit Judge Barb Crowder, who recently began a flurry of procedural steps in the litigation.

Class actions often end in settlements, but Syngenta has vowed to fight the Madison County case.

"The company doesn't have anything to hide," Reeg said. "We'll go to trial if we have to vindicate the product."

Tillery expressed equal resolve in a news release he recently issued.

"The clock is ticking and I believe that time is running out for the manufacturers of atrazine," Tillery stated. "Until now there has been zero accountability for the very companies which have profited enormously while polluting our drinking water. They should clean up their own mess, not rely on the American public to do it for them."