Pages tagged "PCBs"
US Court Documents Show Monsanto Manager Led Cancer Cover Up for Glyphosate and PCBs
The same Monsanto manager, Dr. George Levinskas, who helped hide the carcinogenic potential of PCBs in the 1970s, has now been shown, in California court documents released Tuesday, to have also influenced the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regarding the carcinogenic potential of the World’s most used herbicide – glyphosate – in the 1980s.
In March 2015 Sustainable Pulse uncovered a 30 year cover up by Monsanto and the EPA, related to the probable carcinogenicty of the World’s most used herbicide – glyphosate. This cover up has now been confirmed by court documents released by the U.S. District Court in San Francisco.
U.S. Right to Know (USRTK) reported Wednesday that more than 50 lawsuits against Monsanto Co. are pending in the U.S. District Court in San Francisco, filed by people alleging that exposure to Roundup, a glyphosate-based herbicide, caused them or their loved ones to develop non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and that Monsanto covered up the risks.
On March 13th, U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria ruled — over Monsanto’s objections — that documents obtained by plaintiffs through discovery could be unsealed.
The documents released are a treasure trove of information on how Monsanto influenced the EPA to change the March 4, 1985 classification of glyphosate as a Class C Carcinogen – showing suggestive potential of carcinogenic potential – to a Class E category which suggests “evidence of non-carcinogenicity for humans” in 1991.
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.
