MONSANTO SETTLEMENT APPROVED Monsanto Settlement With WV Residents Approved
Reported by: Associated Press
Web Producer: Heath Harrison
Reported: Jan. 25, 2013 10:07 AM EST
Updated: Jan. 25, 2013 5:43 PM EST
EYEWITNESS ONLINE WEBCAST VIDEO C L I C K T O P L A Y
Winfield
, Putnam County
, West Virginia
A judge in Putnam County has given final approval to a settlement between chemical manufacturer Monsanto Co. and thousands of West Virginia residents over pollution claims.
Circuit Judge Derek Swope approved the settlement Friday.
A $93 million settlement was reached last February with residents who said Monsanto polluted their community by burning waste from production of the defoliant Agent Orange.
St. Louis-based Monsanto had agreed to pay up to $84 million for medical monitoring and $9 million to clean up 4,500 homes. Monsanto also agreed to pay legal fees.
The litigation began with a class-action case by plant workers in the 1980s.
The Monsanto plant in Nitro produced herbicides, rubber products and other chemicals. The plant's production of the defoliant Agent Orange created dioxin as a toxic chemical byproduct.
W.Va.'s local-food movement a model for Appalachia May 22, 2013 5:23 AM EDT With eight in 10 farmers making less than $10,000 a year, West Virginia will never rival big Midwestern factory farms in producing food.
W.Va.'s local-food movement a model for Appalachia May 22, 2013 5:23 AM EDT With eight in 10 farmers making less than $10,000 a year, West Virginia will never rival big Midwestern factory farms in producing food.
Suspect grabbed after southwest Ohio police chase May 22, 2013 6:35 AM EDT Police in the Cincinnati area say they apprehended an elusive suspect after a pursuit that reached 100 mph and ended in a crash.
Associated Press
