Blog, Mosanto, PCB Contamination, PCB Lawsuit, Water Contamination
Seventh PCB Lawsuit Against Monsanto
LONG BEACH, Calif. Today, the City of Long Beach, Gomez Trial Attorneys, and Baron & Budd filed the seventh lawsuit of its kind against Monsanto for PCB contamination of Long Beach's city storm water and the Port of Long Beach. Polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, are toxic chemicals which cannot be contained and last for decades. PCBs off-gas from their original application, enter into city storm water through urban run-off, and deposit into the Port of Long Beach.
Long Beach joins San Jose, San Diego, Seattle, Oakland, Berkeley, and Spokane, all which have filed similar lawsuits against Monsanto. The case was filed in federal district in the Central District of California, Case No. 2:16-cv-03493.
Monsanto produced PCBs for approximately 50 years until the U.S. Congress banned them because they endanger human and environmental health. Despite the 1979 ban, today PCBs are a common environmental contaminant found in all natural resources including water and plants as well as tissues of marine life, animals and humans. PCBs bioaccumulate in the food chain and are associated with illnesses and cancer in humans.
"The City is committed to holding Monsanto responsible for the significant amount of contamination it has placed into the City's eco-system and Monsanto should shoulder the burden of cleaning up the environment, not the taxpayers of Long Beach and the State," says City Attorney Charles Parkin. "Long Beach is standing up for clean water and holding Monsanto responsible for producing and distributing products in knew would become a significant risk to the environment."
During the five decades prior to the 1979 ban, Monsanto's PCBs were incorporated into a wide variety of products and applications including power transformers, electrical equipment, paints, caulks and other building materials. Monsanto knew that PCBs were toxic and could not be contained as they readily escaped into the environment, finding their way into bays, oceans, lakes, rivers, streams, soil and air. Although documents show Monsanto recognized PCBs were becoming a global contaminant, Monsanto continued to manufacture PCBs and ignored the health risks to humans and the environment.
Monsanto unleashed an environmental virus that cannot be contained and is now in virtually every living organism in our food chain Scott Summy, Baron And Budd Click to tweet
"Monsanto unleashed an environmental virus that cannot be contained and is now in virtually every living organism in our food chain," says Baron & Budd attorney Scott Summy, who leads the litigation for each of the seven cities. "Long Beach is standing up for clean water and holding Monsanto responsible for manufacturing a product it knew would become a global contaminant."
California's Water Quality Control Board has determined that the presence of PCBs in storm water runoff in Long Beach threatens fish and wildlife in the Port of Long Beach. Long Beach will continue to incur significant costs related to PCBs in its storm water and the sedimentary deposits in Port of Long Beach and adjacent ocean floor areas.
PCBs are found in the consumable tissue of fish and other wildlife. Monsanto's PCBs are one of the largest public nuisances on the planet John Fiske, Ecolawyers Click to tweet
"PCBs are found in the consumable tissue of fish and other wildlife. Monsanto's PCBs are one of the largest public nuisances on the planet," says attorney John Fiske of Gomez Trial Attorneys. "It's unfair that Long Beach taxpayers and cities are stuck cleaning up Monsanto's mess."
Gomez Trial Attorneys, based in San Diego, represents cities and families in water contamination cases. Baron & Budd, P.C., based in Dallas, Texas, has represented hundreds of public entities nationwide whose water supplies, properties or natural resources are affected by chemical contaminants.
For questions, please contact John Fiske at Gomez Trial Attorneys at 619-237-3490 or [email protected].
May 25, 2016 /0 Comments/by John Fiske
https://www.ecolawyers.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/PCBLawsuitLongBeach.jpg 321 750 John Fiske https://www.ecolawyers.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/ecolawyers-logo-340x156px-300x138.png John Fiske2016-05-25 18:01:102016-05-25 18:28:29Seventh PCB Lawsuit Against Monsanto
Blog, Mosanto, PCB Contamination, PCB Lawsuit, Water, Water Contamination
PCB Water Contamination
Gomez Environmental Law Represents Seattle and 5 Other Cities Against Monsanto for PCB Water Contamination
Gomez Environmental Law and Baron & Budd recently filed a lawsuit on behalf of the City of Seattle against Monsanto Company for PCB contamination of city storm water and urban run-off. Seattle joins 5 other major American cities, including San Diego, San Jose, Oakland, Berkeley, and Spokane. The lawsuits allege that Monsanto was the sole manufacturer of PCBs in America between 1930 and 1979 when PCBs were outlawed by Congress due to their toxic effects on the environment. PCBs are man-made chemicals that cannot be contained, last decades, and are toxic. Impaired bodies of water such as San Francisco Bay, San Diego Bay, the Lower Duwamish River, and the Spokane River are polluted with Monsanto's PCBs. The lawsuits allege Monsanto manufactured, promoted, and sold PCBs despite knowing that PCB were a toxic "global contaminant," becoming one of the largest man-made public nuisances in the country.
"These cities are standing up for clean water and holding Monsanto accountable for pushing a chemical that it knew was toxic, could not be contained, and lasts a very long time," says John Fiske of Gomez Trial Attorneys. Scott Summy of Baron & Budd says, "Monsanto unleashed an environmental virus and now wants the taxpayers to clean it up."
Gomez Trial Attorneys and Baron & Budd have received high levels of interest from major municipalities up and down the west coast and expect more lawsuits to be filed.
January 17, 2016 /0 Comments/by John Fiske
https://www.ecolawyers.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/PCBWaterContaminationSeattle.jpg 321 750 John Fiske https://www.ecolawyers.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/ecolawyers-logo-340x156px-300x138.png John Fiske2016-01-17 10:31:042016-05-24 00:36:52PCB Water Contamination
Blog, Mosanto, PCB Contamination, PCB Lawsuit
PCB Lawsuit Against Monsanto
An explanation of our ‪PCB‬ lawsuit against Monsanto, which we are litigating with Baron & Budd | Protecting What's Right
August 23, 2015 /0 Comments/by John Fiske
https://www.ecolawyers.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/PCB-Lawsuit-Against-Monsanto-Gomez-Ecolawyers-1.jpeg 720 1280 John Fiske https://www.ecolawyers.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/ecolawyers-logo-340x156px-300x138.png John Fiske2015-08-23 20:09:222016-05-23 23:36:43PCB Lawsuit Against Monsanto