Earlier this year the mainstream media was silent on a landmark lawsuit against the Monsanto Company by one of the United States’ largest and most beautiful cities, San Diego.

Now, Monsanto is being sued yet again, this time by the second largest city in the state of Washington, for polluting an important body of water that actually feeds an aquifer used to store water for its residents.

Spokane, Washington announced that it is suing the agrochemical giant, based in St. Louis, blaming it for polluting the Spokane River with its infamous PCB chemicals.

Monsanto Disavows All Responsibility

The lawsuit claims that Monsanto sold chemicals for decades that it knew were dangerous to both the people and the environment of the Spokane River. It did not specify what type of damages were being sought according to the AP report, but the city is expecting its cleanup efforts to be pricey, long and arduous due to the contamination.



Filed in the U.S. District Court in Spokane, the suit is being called a “long-term” one by Marlene Feist, Spokane’s utility spokeswoman.

In response to the lawsuit announcement, the Monsanto Company has claimed it is not responsible because it was a previous incarnation of the company that produced the PCBs, according to a report from the Associated Press.

A similar defense on its home turf in St. Louis County allowed Monsanto to win a landmark court case earlier this year in which it was alleged by plaintiffs from across the country that Monsanto, Solutia, Pharmacia and Pfizer should be liable for cancer-related illnesses and deaths caused by its PCB chemicals.

According to Feist, the city of Spokane will spend $300 million in the upcoming years in order to prevent PCBs and other harmful pollutants from reaching the river. The PCBs were produced solely by Monsanto from 1935 to 1979, when most of them were banned by Congress.

The Spokane River is one of the primary sources of drinking water for area residents according to a 2005 report by the National Research Council. A spokesman for the aquifer told AltHealthWORKS.com that the contamination does not affect the aquifer’s water.

For more information, see the news report below by Spokane’s CBS affiliate:



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