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 in Northeast Minneapolis. The suggested donation for attending is $20, but no one will be turned away. Seats can be reserved by contacting Land Stewardship Project's Bobby King at 612.722.6377.

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 asked him to testify before a legislative committee on his 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 it contaminates southeast Minnesota’s Whitewater River at high levels. (You can read more about Wotzka's research and his firing in the Summer 2007 Land Stewardship Letter).

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 Paul Wotzka’s legal defense fund. Also speaking will be Dr Tyrone Hayes Ph.D., 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 agribusiness interests expressed concerns about his research.

After presentations by Wotzka and Hayes, there will be a panel discussion involving the two researchers, as well as Land Stewardship Project organizer Paul Sobocinski, along with state Senator John Marty and state Representative Ken Tschumper. 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. This event will also feature a silent auction of items donated by Twin Cities area restaurants. Paul Metsa will provide music from 6:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.

This event is co-hosted by the Eastside Food Co-op and Land Stewardship Project.

If you cannot attend but would like to support Paul Wotzka donations can be made out to Paul Wotzka Defense Fund and sent to:

Eastside Food Co-op
atten. Kristina Gronquist
2551 Central Ave NE
Minneapolis, MN 55418

There will be music, a silent auction from the top restaurants in the Twin Cities and the free flow of information for us all.