LAWSUITS NEWS & LEGAL INFORMATION
Monsanto Will Pay $93M in Agent Orange Class Action Settlement
This is a settlement for the Agent Orange, lawsuit.
Winfield, WV: A proposed $93 million settlement pending in the class action lawsuit filed over a chemical used in Agent Orange and resulting neighborhood contamination surrounding the Monsanto plant that produced the chemical, has finally been approved. The settlement was preliminarily approved 11 months ago.
The lawsuit, brought against Monsanto over burning practices at its Nitro plant, resolves all pending litigation and class actions. According to a report by the West Virginia Record, the lawsuit alleged that during the years that Monsanto was operating its trichlorophenol plant, it adopted an unlawful practice of disposing of dioxin waste materials by a continuous process of open "pit"burning. The dioxin in question, called 2,4,5 trichlorophenoxyacidic acid or 2,4,5-T, was used by the military as part of the herbicide Agent Orange in Vietnam. The residents' complaints called the process "dusty"and said the company' dust control was "haphazard,"causing more than 3,000 pounds of the dioxin to be released into the Nitro air. Monsanto operated the Nitro plant until 1995 and in 2004 the plant was finally closed.
Included in the settlement is the establishment of a 30-year medical monitoring program, a primary fund of $21 million to pay for the testing of those eligible class members, and up to $63 million in additional funding to be made available over the 30-year life of the program. Further, up to $9 million will be made available for professional cleaning of up to 4,500 homes around the now defunct Nitro plant.
Published on Jan-31-13
The lawsuit, brought against Monsanto over burning practices at its Nitro plant, resolves all pending litigation and class actions. According to a report by the West Virginia Record, the lawsuit alleged that during the years that Monsanto was operating its trichlorophenol plant, it adopted an unlawful practice of disposing of dioxin waste materials by a continuous process of open "pit"burning. The dioxin in question, called 2,4,5 trichlorophenoxyacidic acid or 2,4,5-T, was used by the military as part of the herbicide Agent Orange in Vietnam. The residents' complaints called the process "dusty"and said the company' dust control was "haphazard,"causing more than 3,000 pounds of the dioxin to be released into the Nitro air. Monsanto operated the Nitro plant until 1995 and in 2004 the plant was finally closed.
Included in the settlement is the establishment of a 30-year medical monitoring program, a primary fund of $21 million to pay for the testing of those eligible class members, and up to $63 million in additional funding to be made available over the 30-year life of the program. Further, up to $9 million will be made available for professional cleaning of up to 4,500 homes around the now defunct Nitro plant.
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I currently am 100% disabled and have 20% service connected disability. I was in the US Army from 1980-1983. I had my basic training and AIT at Fort McCellan, Alabama. There I was exposed to "The McClellan Cocktail" which includes: Depleted Uranium, Sarin Gas, Mustard Gas, and Various other Bacterial, Nerve and Chemical Agents. PCB's and Agent Orange. Then I was stationed at Seneca Army Deport (SEAD) from 1980 threw 1982. There at SEAD, during the briefing prior to entering the "Q", they stated that we would NOT be given radiation detection badges because if we were, we would have to leave after a few days because it would say that we would not be able to go back in the Q. So they never did get issued radiation detection badges. Yes there was radiation at SEAD! Check the reports and see! I trained on the igloo's and in the entire "Q" area! We had to lay on the ground and I also was on transporting missions of nuclear weapons to the Air field. I know some of the igloo's were contaminated on the ground level with radiation coming from it inside the "Q". While I was there I became nauseated there at SEAD and the medical department gave me this very small, charcoal pill to help stop and absorb what was causing the nauseous feeling. Then from 1982-1983 I was stationed at Berlin, Germany. In Germany, I did road duty, Check Point Bravo, Check Point Charlie, and I also did some undercover work with CID. I also went to Vilseck for NBC/NCO training. While in Berlin I was blown up with a grenade exploding and wrapping my legs around a tree. This is why I get the 20% service connected disability compensation. While at Berlin I also started loosing my teeth. They would decay from the inside out and just break off. My teeth had become so bad that I had to have them removed and get full dentures at age 27. All my spine is currently very bad from degeneration of the bone in the spine. There is a calcium build up in the thoracic area and I had to have surgery on my cervical. The cervical was from a workman's compensation issue. But the entire spine has degenerative disc disease and arthritis throughout my entire body. I have cataracts and glaucoma that the VA had to lazor holes in both of my eyes to relieve the pressure so I don't go blind. I have knee braces on both legs and walk with a cane because I loose my balance at
times. I get leg cramps at night that gets severe at times! I also have now come up with in the last few years with a heart condition. I have had heart attacks also. I suffer with continuous pain from nerve damage, arthritis and joint pain throughout my body. My skin gets little like blisters when exposed to the sun now too! I have never had a problem in the sun with my skin. I did a biopsy that shows there is Chronic Inflammation. Which is consistent with exposure to PCB's and Agent Orange along with degenerative bones and arthritis. I am currently going to pain management in Utica, NY. I have been diagnosed with Gerd, Fibermyalgia and Neropathy, Degenerative Disc Disease and Arthritis, a Calcification in the Distal Femur which represents a Benign Cartilaginous Lesion, Levoscoliosis of the thoracic, Scoliosis of the thoracic spine, COPD, even Carpel Tunnel in both hands, and Actinic Keratosis. Even my children are having some of the same problems. My son Eric, age 35, my daughter Heather age 34, and my daughter Alexandria age 11. My wife had to have a full Hysterectomy right after Alexandria's birth because of a growth that grew in the uterus to 10 pounds that was removed with everything. According to the articals this can be genetic influence because of everything I have been exposed to that can cause changes in DNA, the "blueprints" that ensure cell repair and replacement produces a perfect copy of the original cell. Changes in DNA are called mutations. Sometimes the body fails to repair these mutations or even creates mutations during repair. Genetic mutations are then passed on to children. I am only 56 years old and my body is like an 80 year old man. I am currently 100% disabled due to all of my problem with my body. I have already sent articals and studies showing that these problems can be from long term exposure from low level Radiation exposure and Toxic Exposure of PCB's (Agent Orange is a PCB), that causes a premature aging. I am looking for service connected compensation from the exposure I received at SEAD and the toxic exposure of "The McCellan Cocktail" from Fort McCellan, Al. The sad thing is that everyone already knows all of this Toxic Exposure with Ft McClellan and Seneca Army Depot. And all the VA does is continue to refuse claims on this exposure just because their budget can't afford it! This appeal needs to be approved for the compensation of the Toxic Exposure I have had while in the service of the US Army.
Respectfully Submitted,