Next door in Wisconsin, a major chemical company appears to be dictating policy on how much of its material should be allowed to pollute groundwater. This kind of influence in the regulatory process is not unique to Wisconsin among the Great Lakes states.
Bruce Baker, deputy administration of water for the Department of Natural Resources, was shocked at the letter the agency received late last year from St. Louis-based Monsanto Chemical.
A week before, Monsanto convinced a joint legislative committee of the need for an independent study of the health effects of alachlor ESA - a chemical in an herbicide used by farmers and manufactured by the company - that state health and environmental officials had worked for nearly 14 years to regulate.
Studies by the state and federal government and even by Monsanto showed the chemical causes anemia when given to lab rats at high levels, though the science is not clear on its effects on humans.
Now, after years of study, Monsanto was asking for another review of the science, outlining in the letter how the independent study should be run and providing names of experts it wanted used.
http://www.madison.com/wsj/mad/top/index.php?ntid=100646
Posted by Dave at September 28, 2006 03:06 PM