Oregon Sues Monsanto Over PCBs

Oregon is suing the agrochemical giant Monsanto over PCB pollution the state says has contaminated its waterways and wildlife.  The lawsuit filed Thursday by Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum seeks $100 million to mitigate pollution that state officials say has accumulated over decades.

Monsanto did not immediately respond to the lawsuit.  It called a similar lawsuit brought by Washington in 2016 meritless.  PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, were used in many industrial and commercial applications.  Monsanto produced them from 1935 until Congress banned them in 1979.

According to the EPA, PCBs have been shown to cause cancer in animals as well as effects on the immune, nervous and reproductive systems.

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