December 15, 2022 11:05 a.m.

Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum has announced a historic $698 million dollar settlement with the Monsanto Company for their role in polluting Oregon with PCBs for the past 90 plus years.

This is the largest environmental damage recovery in Oregon history, according to Rosenblum.

A release from the Department of Justice, Office of the Attorney General said Monsanto was the only manufacturer, seller and distributor of polychlorinated biphenyls. PCBs are toxic compounds formerly used in coolants, electrical equipment, and devices, as well as hydraulic oils. They were also previously used in products, including paint, caulking, and copy paper.

Rosenblum said, “This is a huge win for our state”. Rosenblum said, “PCBs are still present throughout Oregon – especially in our landfills and riverbeds – and they are exceedingly difficult to remove, because they ‘bioaccumulate’ in fish and wildlife. Cleaning up our state from this horrific environmental degradation will be as costly and time-consuming as it sounds, but this settlement means we now will have resources to help tackle the problem”.

Monsanto is owned by Bayer AG, a German pharmaceutical and biotechnology company.

The settlement stems from a lawsuit Rosenblum filed against Monsanto in 2018. The original lawsuit is linked: https://www.doj.state.or.us/media-home/news-media-releases/ag-rosenblum-sues-monsanto-damage-oregon-pcbs/.

The complaint alleges that Monsanto was aware as early as 1937 of the highly toxic nature of PCBs. The lawsuit asserted that even with that knowledge, Monsanto continued to produce and promote the compounds for decades – until they were finally banned in 1976. The lawsuit asked for damages for the extensive harm to Oregon from PCB contamination, as well as cleanup costs

The release said the Oregon Department of Justice will be working with the legislator, the governor, and state agencies to put the funds to use for statewide remediation and clean-up.