Forum on Pesticide Pollution & Fundraiser to Support MPCA Whistleblower Oct. 10 in NE Minneapolis

Internationally-Known Atrazine Expert Tyrone Hayes to Speak

CONTACT: Tom Taylor, Eastside Food Co-op, 612-706-1619
Bobby King, Land Stewardship Project, 612-722-6377

9/20/07
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. —The latest research on the environmental and health risks of one of the most widely-used pesticides in America will be presented during a special forum/fundraiser Wednesday, Oct. 10, from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m., at the Ritz Theater (345 13th Ave. NE) in Northeast Minneapolis. The suggested donation for attending is $20, but no one will be turned away. Seats can be reserved by e-mailing foodforum@eastsidefood.coop. For more information, contact Bobby King at the Land Stewardship Project by calling 612-722-6377 or e-mailing bking@landstewardshipproject.org. This event is co-hosted by the Eastside Food Co-op and the Land Stewardship Project.

Presenting at this forum will be Paul Wotzka, who served as a hydrologist for the Minnesota Department of Agriculture and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) for a combined 16 years. This spring, he was fired by the MPCA after a Minnesota state representative requested he testify before a legislative committee on research related to the herbicide atrazine. Atrazine is one of the most widely used weed killers in the country, and Wotzka’s nationally-recognized research has shown that it contaminates southeast Minnesota’s Whitewater River at high levels. (More details on Wotzka’s research and his firing are at www.landstewardshipproject.org/lsl/lspv25n3.pdf.)

Wotzka has filed a federal whistleblower lawsuit against the MPCA, charging that his First Amendment right to free speech has been violated. Proceeds from this event will go to support Wotzka’s legal defense fund.

Also speaking Oct. 10 will be Tyrone Hayes, a University of California-Berkeley scientist whose widely respected research has shown links between severe health problems in amphibians and exposure to low levels of atrazine. In 2004, Hayes was dis-invited from giving a keynote at an MPCA conference after concerns were raised his presentation on atrazine would offend Minnesota Department of Agriculture officials, according to the Star Tribune newspaper.

After their presentations, Wotzka and Hayes will be joined by state Senator John Marty, state Representative Ken Tschumper and Land Stewardship Project organizer/farmer Paul Sobocinski for a panel discussion.  Marty and Tschumper have been pushing a package of legislation related to the detection and regulation of pesticides such as atrazine.  Sobocinski, who farms in southwest Minnesota, recently testified at the legislature about those bills. Land Stewardship Project member Atina Diffley, who operates the organic farm Gardens of Eagan, will facilitate the event. 

Additional sponsors of this event include Brenda Langton of Café Brenda and Spoonriver, Gardens of Eagan, Midwest Organic and Sustainable Education Service (MOSES), Mississippi Market Co-op, Organic Consumers Association, Riverbend Farm, Valley Natural Foods Co-op and the Wedge Co-op.

Paul Metsa will provide music from 6:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. This event will also feature a silent auction of items donated by Twin Cities area restaurants.

If you cannot attend the Oct. 10 event but would like to support Wotzka’s legal fund, checks payable to the “Paul Wotzka Defense Fund” can be sent to: Eastside Food Co-op (attention: Kristina Gronquist), 2551 Central Ave. NE, Minneapolis, MN 55418; website: www.eastsidefood.coop.

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