Atrazine is a widely-promoted weedkiller used extensively in the United States despite its propensity to contaminate water wherever it is used. When atrazine products are applied to crops, some of the atrazine runs off and migrates into rivers and lakes used for drinking water. EPA requires water providers to test for it and, if detected, use expensive filtration systems to remove it to a certain level.

On behalf of several water providers serving communities in the Midwest — including several subsidiaries of American Water Company, the largest public water provider in the United States. ELG filed suit against the manufacturer of atrazine, Syngenta AG, a Swiss-based multinational agrichemical company. The litigation grew into a national class action that would benefit hundreds of water providers. After several years of work toward trial, ELG negotiated a $105,000,000 class settlement with Syngenta that was allocated among 1,085 water providers and provides the means for those providers to supply cleaner drinking water to their communities.

Concerns about atrazine’s safety and its propensity to contaminate groundwater led the European Union to ban the sale of atrazine. Despite the ban, Syngenta continued to market atrazine for use in the United States without warning regulators, water providers, or the public of the potential for water contamination — or of the potential health risks of drinking water contaminated with atrazine.

EPA continues to monitor the use and environmental effects of atrazine. In 2016, the Agency concluded that atrazine use presents a potential chronic risk to fish, amphibians, mammals, birds, reptiles, and plants in areas of heavy use. And atrazine may affect the function of the human reproductive system.

How Baron & Budd Can Help

If you are a drinking water provider or public entity whose drinking water supplies are contaminated with atrazine, you may be able to take legal action in an effort to obtain compensation. Please contact the national law firm of Baron & Budd by calling 866-364-6376 or complete our contact form. We will carefully listen to the details of your case and let you know how we may be able to help.

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