ATRAZINE - Huffington Post Investigative Fund

Scientific Findings Muzzled Even Under Obama?

Kimberly Leonard — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 20:27:54 +0000

Last week, Investigative Fund reporter Danielle Ivory disclosed how the Environmental Protection Agency isn't including all available scientific data to decide whether the use of atrazine, a common and controversial herbicide sometimes found in tap water, puts the public's health at risk. Read more »

Weighing Safety of Weed Killer in Drinking Water, EPA Relies Heavily on Industry-Backed Studies

Danielle Ivory — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 12:00:37 +0000

Agency Says Company's Evidence 'Scientifically More Robust' than Independent Research

Companies with a financial interest in a weed-killer sometimes found in drinking water paid for thousands of studies federal regulators are using to assess the herbicide’s health risks, records of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency show. Many of these industry-funded studies, which largely support atrazine’s safety, have never been published or subjected to an independent scientific peer review. Read more »

U.S. Congressman Renews Attempts to Ban Controversial Herbicide Atrazine

Danielle Ivory — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 17:41:27 +0000

A member of Congress is seeking to ban one of the nation's most widely-used herbicides, which has turned up in drinking water in some states. Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) is for the second time proposing legislation that would outlaw any use or trade of atrazine. Read more »

Investigative Reporting Gets Noticed - and Matters

Keith Epstein — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 18:34:32 +0000

It’s not every day that a reporter gets to cover a big, headline-generating congressional hearing that involves facts and themes he helped to disclose as a result of his own determined digging. For months, David Heath has doggedly pursued stories for us and The Seattle Times on the largest bank failure in U.S. history, Washington Mutual. Read more »

IRE Awards Finalist

Nick Penniman — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 16:03:25 +0000

Investigative Reporters and Editors recently announced its 2009 award recipients. Our story about a herbicide called atrazine was a finalist. Atrazine is the second-most-widely-used herbicide in America; farmers saturate their crops with it. As our reporting shows, it may cause a significant risk to humans, animals and the environment. Read more »

Nation’s Largest Private Water Utility Joins Lawsuit Against Herbicide Maker

Danielle Ivory — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 22:07:13 +0000

The nation’s largest private water utility company has joined a federal lawsuit that aims to force the manufacturer of atrazine, a widely-used herbicide, to pay for its removal from drinking water. Read more »

Cities Sue Manufacturer of Weed-Killer Found in Tap Water

Danielle Ivory — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 21:54:48 +0000

Federal Lawsuit Seeks Funding to Remove Atrazine from Water Supply

A coalition of communities in six Midwestern states filed a federal lawsuit Monday seeking to force the manufacturer of a widely-used herbicide to pay for its removal from drinking water. Read more »

In Reversal of Bush Policy, EPA Launches New Study of Atrazine’s Health Effects

Danielle Ivory — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 20:59:47 +0000

The Environmental Protection Agency today reversed its stance on the potential hazards of atrazine, one of the most commonly-used herbicides in the country, saying it will re-examine how the chemical affects human health.

EPA officials said in a statement that the agency will take a close look at the weed-killer’s potential to cause cancer, as well as birth defects, low birth weight, and premature births. Agency scientists also will conduct research for the first time examining whether atrazine interferes with the hormone and reproductive systems of humans and amphibians. Read more »

EPA's Failure to Publicize Drinking Water Data Prompts Rethinking in Agency, Congress

Danielle Ivory — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 23:55:56 +0000

There is some evidence that Congress -- and the Environmental Protection Agency -- are rethinking their policies on a commonly used weed-killer after disclosures that the EPA failed to notify the public about high levels of the herbicide in drinking water. Read more »

Herbicide Maker Asks that Lobbying be Excluded from Class Action Lawsuit

Danielle Ivory — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 23:36:48 +0000

Lawyers representing the maker of the herbicide atrazine are asking that documents related to the company’s lobbying and trade association activities be excluded from a class action lawsuit being filed by some Illinois water utilities. Read more »

Checking Your Water for Atrazine

Danielle Ivory — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 17:11:25 +0000

The Environmental Protection Agency recommends that you ask your local water utility for its annual drinking water report if you are concerned about the levels of atrazine in your water. But, as we pointed out this weekend, these reports are not entirely reliable when it comes to the herbicide. Read more »

Water Utilities Lack Proper Filters for Weed-Killer

Danielle Ivory — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 13:11:00 +0000

Results from a federal drinking water monitoring program show that many public water companies are ineffective at removing a widely used weed-killer from their water supplies. Read more »

Huff Fund on TV

Ben Protess — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 17:06:11 +0000

Huffington Post Investigative Fund reporter Danielle Ivory appeared this morning on the TV program “Democracy Now” to discuss her investigation of the Environmental Protection Agency’s failure to inform the public that some drinking water in four states is laced with high levels of the weed-killer atrazine. Read more »

Check Out Our Atrazine Resources: New EPA Data, Our Video and NRDC Report

Danielle Ivory — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 21:43:29 +0000

As we reported yesterday, the Environmental Protection Agency has been collecting data that shows people are drinking water laced with high levels of a weed-killer called atrazine.

But the EPA does not publish that data. (We obtained it through a Freedom of Information Act request.)

Since we have it, we’re publishing the raw data set ourselves. Now you’ll be able to search atrazine levels for about 150 community watersheds in ten states from 2003 to 2008. Read more »

VIDEO: Weed-Killer in the Water: How Safe is Atrazine?

Lagan Sebert — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 01:49:30 +0000

One of the nation's most widely-used herbicides has been found to exceed federal safety limits in drinking water in four states, but water customers have not been told and the Environmental Protection Agency has not published the results. American News Project producer Harry Hanbury contributed to this report.
» Related Story: EPA Fails to Inform Public About Weed-Killer in Drinking Water Read more »

EPA Fails to Inform Public About Weed-Killer in Drinking Water

Danielle Ivory — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 20:00:09 +0000

One of the nation’s most widely-used herbicides has been found to exceed federal safety limits in drinking water in four states, but water customers have not been told and the Environmental Protection Agency has not published the results. Read more »