Eagle Times Staff
Vermont Attorney General Charity Clark filed suit against Monsanto on Monday seeking compensation for PCB contamination at schools across the state.
In what Clark is calling the first of its kind in the nation, the lawsuit alleges that Monsanto knew its commercial PCB formulations were highly toxic and would pose a risk to human health, according to a press release from the Attorney General’s Office.
Monsanto countered in a press release Monday evening that it “never manufactured, used or disposed of PCBs in Vermont and has not manufactured these products for more than 45 years.”
“The PCB-containing products that are alleged to be the source of any impairment claims were produced by third party companies, not Monsanto,” the company claims.
“Monsanto manufactured, marketed, sold, and distributed PCBs while knowing that its products would cause significant, long-term damage in Vermont,” said Clark. “This lawsuit seeks to hold Monsanto accountable for knowingly misleading the public about the harmful impacts of its products. The cost of cleaning up after Monsanto’s deception will be considerable and should be borne by the multibillion-dollar company that profited from the misconduct, not by Vermont taxpayers.”
The complaint alleges that PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, are toxic and dangerous chemical compounds that were manufactured, marketed, sold, and distributed by Monsanto in the United States from approximately 1929 to 1977. During that period, Monsanto was responsible for the manufacture of 99 percent or more of all PCBs used or sold within the United States, according to the release.
Monsanto sold its PCB products for use in paints, caulks, inks, dyes, paper products, lubricants, sealants, plasticizers, coolants, hydraulic fluids, fireproofing, and industrial electrical equipment such as capacitors and transformers, among other applications, the release states.
“There is no basis in law to impose liability for trespass, nuisance or failure to warn claims on a company that legally manufactured a product, last put them into the stream of commerce over 45 years ago,” Monsanto counters. While it may have produced PCBs outside of Vermont, the company claims it “had no control over these components once they were sold to sophisticated, industrial manufacturers for use in their finished products.
Banned in the 1970s, PCBs remain continue to circulate in the state’s waters and other natural resources, especially Lake Champlain, according to the Attorney General’s Office.
In 2021, the Vermont Legislature mandated that all schools built or renovated before 1980 test their indoor air for PCBs. Testing in schools began in spring 2022, and it is expected that the testing will be completed by July 2025 by the Agency of Natural Resources’ Department of Environmental Conservation. So far, of the 50 schools tested, 30% have shown elevated PCB levels, said Chief of the Environmental and Public Protection Division at the Attorney General’s Office Justin Kolber.
Monsanto claims that the standard Vermont is testing to is too strict is “orders of magnitude lower” than those set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
“In our role as stewards of Vermont’s natural environment, we are committed to the remediation of toxic and dangerous PCBs distributed by Monsanto in Vermont, and to the protection of our natural resources,” said Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner John Beling.
In a press release over the weekend, Clark’s office noted that the Monsanto suit would be her first major lawsuit since taking office in January.
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