Washington State Sues Monsanto Over PCB Pollution
December 08 2016 - 9:00PM
Dow Jones News
SEATTLE—Washington on Thursday became the first U.S. state to
sue agrochemical giant Monsanto over pervasive pollution from PCBs,
the toxic industrial chemicals that have accumulated in plants,
fish and people around the globe for decades.
Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee and Attorney General Bob Ferguson
announced the lawsuit at a news conference in downtown Seattle,
saying they expect to win hundreds of millions or even billions of
dollars from the company.
"It is time to hold the sole U.S. manufacturer of PCBs
accountable for the significant harm they have caused to our
state," Mr. Ferguson said, noting that the chemicals continue to
imperil the health of protected salmon and orcas despite the tens
of millions of dollars Washington has spent to clean up the
pollution. "Monsanto produced PCBs for decades while hiding what
they knew about the toxic chemicals' harm to human health and the
environment."
Monsanto didn't immediately respond to an email and a phone
message seeking comment Thursday. In response to a similar lawsuit
filed last year by the city of Spokane, Wash., Monsanto said a
previous incarnation of the company produced the PCBs, which it
said "served an important fire protection and safety purpose."
"PCBs sold at the time were a lawful and useful product that was
then incorporated by third parties into other useful products,"
Charla Lord, a company spokeswoman, wrote. "If improper disposal or
other improper uses created the necessity for clean-up costs, then
these other third parties would bear responsibility for these
costs."
PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, were used in many industrial
and commercial applications, including in paint, coolants, sealants
and hydraulic fluids. Monsanto, based in St. Louis, produced them
from 1935 until Congress banned them in 1979.
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, PCBs have
been shown to cause a variety of health problems, including cancer
in animals as well as effects on the immune, nervous and
reproductive systems.
Other cities—including Portland, Ore., and Oakland, Berkeley,
San Jose, Long Beach and San Diego, Calif.—also have sued Monsanto
over PCB pollution, the Attorney General's Office said. Those cases
are ongoing.
Mr. Ferguson said his office had been in touch with counterparts
in other states, but it remained unclear if they would follow
Washington's lead in suing the company.
Washington's lawsuit seeks damages on several grounds, including
product liability for what it described as Monsanto's failure to
warn about the danger of PCBs; negligence; and even trespass, for
injuring the state's natural resources.
Copyright 2016 the Associated Press
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 08, 2016 20:45 ET (01:45 GMT)
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