Industry News

$35M Monsanto Settlement Covers PCB Damage in Waterways

Sept. 25, 2024

The Los Angeles City Council announced a $35-million settlement with agriculture giant Monsanto and two smaller companies over PCB-caused waterway contamination.

Amanda Joshi

The Los Angeles City Council has settled a lawsuit for $35 million with agriculture giant Monsanto and two smaller companies over damage from polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), chemicals long banned and linked to health problems including cancer.

In March 2022, the city sued Monsanto, which was acquired by the German corporation Bayer in 2018, and smaller chemical companies Solutia Inc. and Pharmacia.

The complaint sought compensation for the cost of past cleanups — and for future abatement of PCBs. The chemicals tainted and continue to pollute many Los Angeles waterways, such as the Santa Monica Bay, Los Angeles Harbor and Echo Park Lake, reports the Los Angeles Times.

PCBs are human-made organic chemicals that have no known taste or smell and range in consistency from oils to waxes. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), exposure to PCBs increases the chances of a person developing cancer while diminishing the effectiveness of the immune system and damaging reproductive organs and the nervous system.

PCBs were produced and used domestically from roughly 1929 until they were banned in 1979. From the 1930s through 1977, Monsanto was the sole producer of PCBs in the United States, according to the National Library of Medicine.

The lawsuit alleged Monsanto knew that “its commercial PCB formulations were highly toxic and would inevitably produce precisely the contamination and human health risks that have occurred.” Instead of informing public officials, the company “misled the public, regulators and its own customers about these key facts.”

The settlement avoids a court trial, which presented some risk to the city.

Seattle also claimed a $160-million settlement with Monsanto in July over PCBs in the city's drainage system and rivers.

A company spokesperson reached out to Chemical Processing via email with the following statement: “Monsanto has reached a settlement agreement with the City of Los Angeles to resolve its claims related to PCBs, a legacy product the company ceased producing in 1977. The settlement contains no admission of liability or wrongdoing by Monsanto and will result in the dismissal of the City’s pending case. Under the terms of the agreement, Monsanto will make a payment of $35 million to the City of Los Angeles, in line with most prior settlement agreements. Monsanto remains committed to defending cases at trial and will only consider settlements when it is in the company’s interest to do so. The company never manufactured or disposed of PCBs in the Los Angeles area, discontinued its own legal production of PCBs nearly five decades ago, conducted hundreds of studies on PCB safety, provided appropriate warnings to its customers based on the state-of-the science at the time, and has committed to participation in agency processes where it has been determined to be a potentially responsible party."

The company spokesperson added: “Monsanto has a lawsuit pending in Missouri against six former PCB customers seeking to enforce contracts under which these companies agreed to fully defend and indemnify Monsanto, and the company recently retained Mark Lanier, a nationally recognized plaintiff lawyer, to represent it in this litigation. Monsanto entered into these indemnity agreements, beginning in 1972, as a condition of continuing to provide these former customers with bulk PCBs for use in their finished products. PCBs were highly valued as nonflammable safety fluids, specified by many electrical and building codes as well as insurance companies to protect against serious fire risk.”

About the Author

Amanda Joshi | Managing Editor

Amanda Joshi has more than 18 years of experience in business-to-business publishing for both print and digital content. Before joining Chemical Processing, she worked with Manufacturing.net and Electrical Contracting Products. She’s a versatile, award-winning editor with experience in writing and editing technical content, executing marketing strategy, developing new products, attending industry events and developing customer relationships.

Amanda graduated from Northern Illinois University in 2001 with a B.A. in English and has been an English teacher. She lives in the Chicago suburbs with her husband and daughter, and their mini Aussiedoodle, Riley. In her rare spare time, she enjoys reading, tackling DIY projects, and horseback riding.