Monsanto and West Virginia residents reach settlement in lawsuit

Residents fearing chemical exposure
can be monitored at the hospital.

A huge class-action lawsuit was settled out of court after chemical company Monsanto and residents agreed to settlement conditions.

Residents in Nitro, West Virginia, have sued Monsanto, claiming that the chemical company unsafely burned dioxin wastes and polluted homes with unsafe levels of the chemical.

The Monsanto plant has produced herbicides, rubber products and other chemicals for more than 50 years.

Their production of Agent Orange created dioxin as a toxic chemical byproduct, the lawsuit alleges.

Dioxins are regarded as persistent organic pollutants.

They have been considered highly toxic and able to cause reproductive and developmental problems, damage the immune system, interfere with hormones and also cause cancer. The chemical builds up in tissue over time, so even small exposures can accumulate to dangerous levels.

Worried about exposure to contaminated soot and dust in their homes, the Nitro residents filed the lawsuit in 2004, seeking medical monitoring for at least 5,000 (and maybe up to 80,000) current and former Nitro residents.

According to an article by Associated Press, the settlement creates an initial $21 million fund, plus up to $63 million more for Nitro residents to have their health monitored over 30 years at a local hospital.

It also provides $9 million to pay for professional cleaning of thousands of homes. Monsanto also has agreed to pay the residents’ legal fees.

The agreement allows thousands of current and former Nitro residents to apply for benefits.

Sources: Charleston Gazette, Washington Post

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Four Employees to be Paid $20,000 for Poor Indoor Air Quality

It’s amazing to us at AllerAir, how some businesses still don’t consider Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) to be worthy of attention. Despite the studies, the news stories and even reports* that claim that the cost of lost work combined with annual health care costs accrued by poor IAQ add up to an astounding $70 billion dollars per year in lost revenues for American businesses, many employers are still turning a blind eye.

But the Benton County Assessor’s Office isn’t—- at least, it isn’t any longer.

Four employees who had claimed the county building they used to work in made them sick have just been given a $20,000 settlement.

One of those employees, Evelyn Campbell, retired two years early because of health problems including swollen legs, a ruptured ankle tendon and other health issues, which she attributes to poor air quality. Campbell says she and the others will be using the money gained in the settlement to pay her medical bills.

A total of five assessor’s office employees had letter from doctors saying they “should not be in this office.”

County staff still maintained that the building didn’t pose a health threat. But while county commissioners did not accept liability, they did agree to move the office to a new location.

Despite not being in the building since May, many of the employees continue to have health issues. Several medical claims are still pending.

And perhaps most interesting to other employers who are turning a blind eye to IAQ, is that while all the employees who were working in the building experienced health problems, only four individuals had hired an attorney to negotiate with the county.

What do you want to bet this isn’t the last settlement that the Benton County will be dishing out for air quality complaints?

For information of providing healthy air in your home or business, visit www.allerair.com or contact one of AllerAir’s IAQ Experts at 1.888.852.8247.

*Source: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory