Monsanto Fails to Cut East St. Louis’ Counsel in PCB Case (1)

Monsanto Co., Solutia Inc., and Pharmacia LLC failed to disqualify counsel for the City of East St. Louis, retained on a contingent-fee basis, to pursue public nuisance and other claims against the companies over polychlorinated biphenyls contamination.

The city alleges the Bayer AG-owned company, in addition to Solutia and Pharmacia, are responsible for the contamination of “vast swaths of its lands” with PCBs “manufactured in Defendants’ Monsanto Plant” in adjacent Sauget, Ill. PCBs are toxic and dangerous synthetic organic chemical compounds.

The companies argued that the city’s fee arrangement violates their due process rights because the attorneys ...