Lawsuit seeks federal action on atrazine water pollution
A new lawsuit asks a federal judge to order the Trump administration to address atrazine pollution in US surface waters under the Clean Water Act. The pesticide is widely used and has been found in many rivers, drinking-water intakes and wells, with links to health and wildlife harms. The suit alleges the EPA has failed for decades to set required water-quality standards.
Atrazine ranks as the second most heavily applied pesticide in the United States, with roughly 70 million pounds used on cropland each year. Federal records reviewed recently indicate it appears in about a quarter of continental US river miles—some 860,000 miles—as well as more than a fifth of surface drinking-water intakes and over 675,000 wells.
The EPA was expected to establish a Clean Water Act plan in 1999 but never did, the suit says. A separate approach under pesticide law would reportedly tackle only about 1% of atrazine pollution. The chemical is effectively banned in 60 countries, including the EU since 2003, and California proposed adding it to its carcinogen list this month.
If the lawsuit succeeds, federal water-quality limits could affect farmers, pesticide makers, water utilities, and communities drawing from rivers or wells. Stricter standards may raise costs or change agricultural practices, while potentially reducing exposure for people and wildlife. Because atrazine is widespread and persistent, any regulatory shift may take years to influence drinking-water safety and ecosystem health; the case’s main near-term effect could be to force clearer federal attention to a long-standing contamination issue.