The pesticide Atrazine is going to be the topic of the day, and no amount of pressure from the Farm Bureua, the Department of Agriculture, or the MPCA can stave off the conversation. Culminating in a fundraiser for Paul Wotzka on the evening of the 10th, UC Berkley Professor Tyrone Hayes will be making the rounds on MPR and at the state legislature. Brian from Loon Commons has details.

Tyrone Hayes, the Berkeley researcher whose atrazine research made him persona non grata at an MPCA meeting a few years ago, will be on Minnesota Public Radio’s Midmorning program (91.1 FM in the Twin Cities) Wednesday, Oct. 10, beginning at 10:06 a.m. The interview should be a good warm-up for the Senate hearing at 1 p.m. that day on pesticides and attempts by government and corporations to intimidate scientists who study the environmental impacts of agrichemicals. A recent article on the Twin Cities Daily Planet website provides nice background on how pesticide research conducted by former MPCA hydrologist Paul Wotzka led to his current role as government whistleblower.

Prior reporting here at Sky Blue Waters has revealed repeated collusion between the MPCA and the Department of Agriculture to suppress concerns raised over the commercial pesticide.