Visitors Now:
Total Visits:
Total Stories:

By Wake Up World
Contributor profile | More stories

Story Views
Now:
Last Hour:
Last 24 Hours:
Total:

Getting Away with Ecocide — Chemical Reform Bill Could Grant Monsanto Legal Immunity for PCB Pollution

Saturday, March 5, 2016 15:18

% of readers think this story is Fact. Add your two cents.

Get FREE private and secure Email and Messaging click now!

(Before It's News)

5th March 2016

By Carolanne Wright

Contributing Writer for Wake Up World

Facing a surge in lawsuits across the United States, chemical giant Monsanto has been given a gift of sorts from the government — one that could let the corporation off the hook for its role in decades of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) pollution, effectively saving the company millions of dollars in settlements.

Pay no mind to research that demonstrates PCBs are exceptionally toxic to humans, wildlife and the environment. Also turn a blind eye to the fact that Monsanto knew for decades the chemical was extremely poisonous. And ignore that the corporation not only continued to manufacture the chemical after recognizing its toxicity, but decided it was a good idea to dump tonnes of raw PCBs into a creek adjacent to the chemical plant, essentially poisoning an entire community over the course of 40 years. For the grand finale, lets add a provision into a chemical reform bill, which protects Monsanto from lawsuits concerning said PCB contamination.

As noted by The Environmental Working Group: “Slipped at the last minute into the House version, H.R. 2576, of a bill to update the broken Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976 is a provision that could shield the company from liability for decades of pollution with a family of chemicals made only by Monsanto: polychlorinated biphenyls, better known as PCBs. While the insertion was so subtle many lawmakers probably did not even notice it, the implications of the Monsanto bailout clause are huge. The implications of the provision — added at the last minute — are significant enough that perhaps it should be called the “Monsanto bailout clause.”

How to Get Away with Ecocide — and Turn a Profit in the Process

Monsanto began commercial production of PCBs in 1929 and ultimately manufactured about 2 million tonnes, until the chemical was banned in 1979 by the EPA. PCBs were a cash cow for the company and used in everything from insulation, transformers, plasticizers and inks to adhesives, flame-retardants, paints and duplicating paper. The chemical wasn’t only highly lucrative for Monsanto, but also extraordinarily dangerous for the environment and human health. Linked to disorders of the immune, reproductive, nervous and endocrine systems, PCBs are a far cry from the ‘safe’ chemical Monsanto claimed it to be. It’s also a known carcinogen. PCBs continue to persist in the environment to this day, and are found in human fatty tissue, blood and milk, along with meat, fish and dairy products. Environmental samples of air, fresh and salt water, soil, sediment and solid waste typically show PCB contamination.

CONTINUE READING:

Further reading from Carolanne Wright: