Monsanto close to 'Agent Orange' settlement with US victims

[alp227]

Chemicals giant Monsanto is believed to have reached a settlement with US residents who claim they were poisoned by chemicals used in the manufacturing of the Vietnam-era chemical weapon Agent Orange.

The long-running suit was brought by residents living near a now defunct Monsanto plant in Nitro, West Virginia that between 1949 and 1971 produced the agricultural herbicide 2,4,5 trichlorophenoxyacidic acid, a key ingredient in Agent Orange.

The weapon was used extensively during the Vietnam war, killing and maiming an estimated 400,000 people and leading to 500,000 birth defects. In 2005 a US court rejected a case brought by Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange.

The suit – filed on behalf of tens of thousands of people who lived, worked and went to school in Nitro after 1949 – claims that Monsanto spread toxic substances including dioxins, which have been linked to cancer, all over the town.

full: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/feb/24/monsanto-agent-orange-settlement-west-virginia

[russspeakeasy]

1. "Close to a settlement"..................(on their terms).

[stockholmer]

2. justice deferred this long is justice denied

[truedelphi]

3. And in the future, Monsanto won't even need to worry about lawsuits ending up

With judgements against them.

One reason for Kagen's appointment to the SCOTUS is her affiliation with Monsato.

[Ilsa]

4. How long has this lawsuit dragged on?

The article didn't give a filing date.