Monsanto Must Pay to Clean Up PCBs, New Suit by D.C. Says (1)

Monsanto Co. and two affiliated companies were hit Thursday with a lawsuit by Washington, D.C., which says Monsanto’s polychlorinated biphenyls contaminated local lands, wildlife, and rivers for almost 50 years.

Monsanto and the companies that took over its chemical and pharmaceutical businesses, Solutia Inc. and Pharmacia LLC, respectively, should pay past, present, and future costs associated with the PCB contamination in D.C., which could run hundreds of millions of dollars, according to Attorney General Karl A. Racine.

The chemicals were banned in 1979, but they persist in groundwater and soil, endangering citizens, Racine said. The complaint also states that Monsanto ...