PORTLAND — Bayer, the German pharmaceutical and biotechnology company, will pay Oregon $698 million to end a lawsuit over PCB pollution associated with products made by Monsanto, the agriculture giant it now owns, the state’s attorney general announced Thursday.
It’s the largest environmental damage recovery in Oregon’s history and “magnitudes larger” than any other state settlement over PCB contamination by Monsanto, Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum said. She described it as “vitally important” to the state’s land, air, water, wildlife and residents.
“I’m really, really excited that we’re able to bring this amount of money to the state of Oregon to be able to begin to resolve this terrible problem that we have,” Rosenblum said during a news conference. “When we start digging and understanding what is in our land what is in our water, it can really bring tears to your eyes. So let’s get this cleaned up so that our kids and our grandkids will not have tears in their eyes.”
Bayer said in a statement that the settlement over “legacy Monsanto PCB products” fully resolves all Oregon’s claims and releases the company from any future liability. The Oregon agreement contains no admission of liability or wrongdoing by the company, the statement said.
“The settlement terms reflect the unique challenges and trial procedures in this Oregon venue even though Monsanto voluntarily ceased production of PCBs in 1977 and never manufactured, used or disposed of PCBs in Oregon,” it said.
The settlement stems from a lawsuit filed by Oregon against Monsanto in 2018, claiming the company’s products polluted the state for 90 years until PCBs were banned in the 1970s.
PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, were used in many industrial and commercial applications — including paint, coolants, sealants and hydraulic fluids. They still contaminate Oregon’s landfills and riverbeds and show up in fish and wildlife. Monsanto, which was based in Missouri, produced them from 1935 until 1977, two years before they were banned by Congress.
In Oregon, more than two dozen rivers and streams have tested positive for PCB contamination, and fish and wildlife in more than 40 watersheds have also shown signs of pollution, according to court documents.
Portland’s harbor sustained the most pollution because it was lined for a century with businesses that relied heavily on PCBs for manufacturing, metal recycling, fuel storage, railways and other industrial uses.
PCBs have been shown to cause a variety of adverse health effects, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. They can cause cancer in animals and affect their immune, reproductive and nervous systems. The agency has also found that they are probable carcinogens for humans.
A variety of fish species in Oregon are vulnerable because the PCBs accumulate in their fatty tissues. When seals, eagles, osprey, orca whales and humans eat those fish, that contamination is passed on, the lawsuit alleged.
In some cases, dead orca whales that washed up onshore have been treated as hazardous waste, according to the lawsuit.
