The Star Tribune’s Dan Browning and Tom Meersman have dug deeper into the whisteblower lawsuit filed last week against the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA). It appears that the Department of Ag asked for an investigation of Paul Wotzka prior to his request to testify against the use of Atrazine. It is unclear whether or not they asked for this investigation prior to or after Mr. Wotzka left Ag for the MPCA.
Also, Tom at Sky Blue Waters adds a new dynamic wondering about the role of Wayne Anderson, MPCA policy directory and agency liason to the Department of Ag. Mr. Anderson held a key role in the Atrazine controversy surrounding Dr. Tyrone Hayes a couple of years back.
There are still a lot of questions that remain in all of this. I am going to go out on a limb and say that Mr. Wotzka’s criticism of the Department of Ag’s love affair with ethanol was pretty well known prior to his departure from the agency. Did that influence the agency’s actions? What prompted Mr. Wotzka’s move from Ag to MPCA anyway? Hopefully there will be some legislative inquiries into all of this soon.