New problems for Bayer subsidiary: Los Angeles is suing Monsanto

Los Angeles has filed a lawsuit against Monsanto. The city in the US state of California accuses the Bayer subsidiary of having polluted water with chlorine compounds until 1979.

The city of Los Angeles is suing Monsanto and two other companies over water pollution. According to the lawsuit, until 1979 Monsanto polluted the rivers of Los Angeles by discharging polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs. PCBs are chlorine compounds that are toxic and poorly degradable in the environment. They are also considered carcinogenic.

Millions for PCB elimination

The lawsuit seeks, among other things, compensation for previous costs incurred by the city cleaning up PCB contaminants. Los Angeles has spent and will continue to spend millions of dollars to fix the problem, prosecutors said.

PCBs have been used in industrial and electrical equipment, hydraulic fluids or fire retardants. They were banned in the United States in 1979 and then worldwide in 2001. Despite this, the substances continue to flow into the rivers and sea through rain and sewage, according to the city’s prosecutor’s allegations. In a statement, Bayer rejected the allegations.

Lawsuits over pesticides containing glyphosate

Bayer subsidiary Monsanto is already being sued in the United States for selling pesticides containing the active ingredient glyphosate. The substance is classified as “probably carcinogenic” by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). Bayer denies this.