Monsanto to Pay $93 Million to Settle Dioxin Class Action Brought by W.Va. Residents

CINCINNATI—Monsanto Co. will pay $93 million to residents of Nitro, W.Va., for medical monitoring and property cleanup under a settlement filed in state court Feb. 24 to resolve a class-action litigation alleging dioxin contamination (Zina Bibb v. Monsanto).

Jury selection for the trial in the class action, which seeks redress for areawide pollution caused by burning dioxin waste from Agent Orange production, was under way when attorneys for Monsanto and Nitro residents reached the agreement and submitted it to Putnam County Circuit Judge Derek Swope, who gave it preliminary approval Feb. 24.

The settlement resolves litigation tied specifically ...