Monsanto Co. has agreed to pay $35 million to settle a city of Los Angeles lawsuit that sought to hold the agrochemical firm accountable for manufacturing and selling chemical compounds decades ago that contaminated L.A.-area waterways.
City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto released the details on the settlement with Monsanto on Oct. 11, saying it was part of an ongoing effort to protect the city’s environment and obtain funds to abate and monitor local waters affected by contamination from polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). The chemical compounds were banned by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in the late 1970s.
The lawsuit against Monsanto, which was filed two years ago, alleged that the company continued to sell the organic chemicals and promoted them as safe, even though Monsanto allegedly knew PCBs posed risks to the environment.
“With this settlement, Monsanto is being held accountable for the damage its dangerous PCBs have inflicted upon Angelenos for decades,” Feldstein Soto said in a prepared statement. “This is a significant step towards cleaner, safer waterways and justice for our city’s residents.”
A Monsanto statement characterized PCBs as a legacy product the company stopped producing in 1977.
“The settlement contains no admission of liability or wrongdoing by the company and will result in the dismissal of the city’s pending case,” the statement emailed to the Southern California Record says. “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.”
The company, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of the pharmaceutical giant Bayer AG, stressed that it remains committed to defending itself in civil trials and would only consider settlements when it’s in Monsanto’s interest.
“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 said in its statement.
Monsanto has filed a lawsuit in Missouri against several of its former PCB customers in a bid to enforce contracts with companies that agreed to indemnify Monsanto as a condition of receiving bulk PCBs for use in manufactured products, the company said.
“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,” the Monsanto statement said.
From the 1920s through the 1970s, the chemical compounds were used in electrical and industrial devices, such as transformers, capacitors and electric motors, as well as in paint, coolant and fireproofing products, according to the City Attorney’s Office.
PCBs do not readily break down once they are in soil or water, so they can persist for long periods of time in the environment, moving from soil to water to air, according to the EPA. The L.A.-area waterways affected by PCB contamination include Ballona Creek, Santa Monica Bay, Los Angeles Harbor, Machado Lake and Echo Park Lake, the City Attorney’s Office reported.
Exposure to PCBs can cause serious health effects, including reduced birth weights, cancer and neurobehavioral changes, according to the City Attorney’s Office.