Port sues Monsanto for PCB contamination in rivers, slough
The Port of Portland is suing Monsanto Co. and companies Solutia Inc. and Pharmacia LLC for PCB contamination of the Willamette River, the Columbia River and McBride Slough.
Attorneys representing the port filed the 29-page lawsuit Wednesday, Jan. 4, in U.S. District Court. It's the 10th public entity in the West to sue the company for PCB contamination. Between March 2015 and January 2016, similar lawsuits have been filed by the San Diego Unified Port District and the cities of San Jose, Oakland, Berkeley, Spokane and Seattle.
The port is asking the court for unspecified damages. It could cost an estimated $1.4 billion to clean up the contamination in the Portland Harbor, a federal Superfund site along the Willamette River between the Fremont Bridge and into North Portland.
Photo from Wikimedia Commons.
