Plaintiffs v Herbicide
Suit Targets Herbicide
The Holiday Shores Water District is the plaintiff in a class action suit being pursued in Madison County Circuit Court by well-known class action attorney Stephen Tillery.
The district is asking the court for compensation for the expense of taking atrazine, a widely used herbicide, out of its water. Critics of atrazine use claim it can cause all kinds of medical problems, including a low sperm count.
One study found the chemical turned male frogs into hermaphrodites.
Tillery said the drug is suspected of disrupting the action of certain natural hormones involved in normal cell metabolism, reproduction, development and/or behavior.
He said the connection to frogs and other animals is not frivolous. Tillery said numerous studies show links between atrazine and heart congestion, lungs and kidneys, low blood pressure, muscle spasms, weight loss, damage to adrenal glands, cardiovascular damage, retinal and muscle degeneration, cancer and other adverse effects.
Some experts say, however, that atrazine degrades over time and can be removed from public water supplies with treatment.
The district is suing each of six different makers of atrazine. Circuit Judge Barbara Crowder recently ruled that each of the six suits will be heard in the order in which they were filed. The suits have not been certified as class actions, and Tillery is in the midst of lining up more plaintiffs to represent the class.
Farmers in the United States and around the world rely on atrazine for cost-effective, broadleaf weed control in corn, grain sorghum, sugar cane and other crops.
The EPA also estimates the total negative impact on corn, sorghum and sugar cane growers in the United States would exceed $2 billion if atrazine were not available.
Data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture show that atrazine also is the most widely used corn herbicide in conservation tillage systems, which can reduce soil erosion by as much as 90 percent, protecting water from sediment, the No. 1 pollutant of U.S. waterways, the Farm Bureau spokesman said.
Tillery is at odds with the makers of the herbicide and the U.S. EPA, which has ruled that there is not enough evidence of harm to ban the herbicide.
For more information please contact:
Stephen Tillery
Korein Tillery LLC
One U.S. Bank Plaza
505 North 7th Street - Suite 3600
St. Louis, Missouri 63101
Telephone: 314-241-4844
Fax: 314-241-3525
http://www.koreintillery.com
