US-based Solutia Inc. has agreed to pay US$ 40 million to settle a lawsuit brought by 1,600 residents of an Alabama community, who accused the chemical company of poisoning its citizens with toxic che…
US-based Solutia Inc. has agreed to pay US$ 40 million to settle a lawsuit brought by 1,600 residents of an Alabama community, who accused the chemical company of poisoning its citizens with toxic chemicals. The contamination allegedly came from a Monsanto Co. plant that discharged PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, into a creek in Anniston, Alabama, through waste water emptied from the plant into a local drainage ditch. Monsanto made PCBs, which were later banned because of potential health risks, at the plant until 1972. Solutia inherited the lawsuit when it was spun off from Monsanto, St. Louis, in 1997. Solutia, which continues to dispute any health claims made by the plaintiffs, settled the lawsuit, filed in the Birmingham federal court of the Northern District of Alabama, without acknowledging wrongdoing.