Monsanto found liable for PCB pollution

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Subject:  Monsanto found liable for PCB pollution
 Date:     Sun, 24 Feb 2002 15:04:48 -0500
From:      Stephen Tvedten <steve@getipm.com>
Organization:     Get Set Inc. (www.getipm.com)

To:     Paul Helliker <phelliker@cdpr.ca.gov>
          Director, State of California, Department of Pesticide Regulation 

cc:    Christine Whitman whitman.christine@epa.gov

Monsanto found liable for PCB pollution - By Phillip Rawls - Associated Press.

GADSDEN , ALA. -- A jury yesterday determined that Monsanto Co. polluted an Alabama town with PCBs, a verdict that sets the stage for more trials on claims that the contamination harmed the residents' health and property.

Monsanto, its spinoff Solutia Inc. and Pharmacia Corp. were found liable for the claims, including negligence.

Circuit Judge Joel Laird said he hadn't decided when or how damages against the firms would be set. Monsanto attorney Adam Peck said after the verdict that the judge also still must decide how to proceed with the remaining cases. "It's the first step of a long process."

Some 3,500 Anniston residents and business owners originally sued the firms, claiming Monsanto knowingly contaminated the community with polychlorinated biphenyls, chemicals used as an insulating fluid in electrical capacitors and transformers. In the case decided yesterday, 16 residents and one business claimed contamination from a Monsanto plant had damaged property and caused emotional distress.

Monsanto attorneys had argued the company acted responsibly by closing the Anniston plant in 1971 -- six years before PCB production was banned by the government. The attorneys said the company wasn't aware the chemicals were being released or that they could be dangerous to the general public.

"When Monsanto learned that PCBs could possibly be in the environment, it acted promptly and responsibly," company attorney Jere White told jurors during the trial.

The plaintiffs' lawyers painted a picture of a reckless company that knew it was creating toxic dumps and didn't tell its neighbours. They called expert witnesses who said Monsanto was aware of a health threat and concealed the danger.

"They did everything they could . . . to cover up the PCB problem and avoid cleaning up the mess," said attorney Donald Stewart.

Allegations of PCB contamination have dogged the firms for years. A trial over PCB contamination in Anniston ended in a $40-million settlement last year, and Solutia, in another case, agreed to pay $43.7-million to as many as 5,000 property owners.

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