Bayer Fails to Win Approval for PCB Settlement Once Again (1)

Bayer AG again failed to persuade a judge to approve a $650 million settlement with hundreds of cities, counties and ports over PCB contamination.

“The court asked the parties to address a number of specific concerns and file a renewed motion in 30 days,” Bayer said in an emailed statement.

U.S. District Judge Fernando Olguin rejected the first proposed settlement in November, saying it improperly shielded Bayer from claims filed by other potentially injured parties, including states.

Bayer resumed negotiations and, along with the local governments, submitted a revised plan in December.

But during a telephone hearing Thursday, Olguin once again rejected the plan. A court filing noting the denial only says that it was made “for the reasons stated on the record.”

The suit was filed by a group of more than 2,500 local government entities, including the cities of Los Angeles, Seattle and Oakland. They sued in 2016, the same year Bayer bought Monsanto Co. and found itself defending itself against a blizzard of lawsuits over the chemical company’s production of PCB -- or polychlorinated biphenyl -- which was banned in in the United States in 1978, and the weed-killer Roundup.

“We will work with plaintiffs’ counsel to address the court’s concerns, and are confident that we can reach a revised agreement that is fair and reasonable, and file a renewed motion with the court within the next month,” Bayer said.

Attorneys general from 21 states raised concerns about the original settlement proposal that the deal contained a broad waiver of liability that may undermine regulators’ independent powers.

The case is City of Long Beach v. Monsanto Co, 16-cv-3493, U.S. District Court, Central District of California (Los Angeles).

(Updates with states’ concerns about original settlement proposal)

To contact the reporter on this story:
Robert Burnson in San Francisco at rburnson@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story:
David Glovin at dglovin@bloomberg.net

Joe Schneider

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