The Monsanto Company will pay the City of Los Angeles $35 million to settle claims it knowingly sold chemical compounds that damage the environment and public health.
The legal settlement was announced Friday by the Office of Los Angeles City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto. It comes two years after her office sued Monsanto over the decades-long manufacture and sale of polychlorinated biphenyls (“PCBs”), which have contaminated local waterways.
“With this settlement, Monsanto is being held accountable for the damage its dangerous PCBs have inflicted upon Angelenos for decades,” Feldstein Soto said. “This is a significant step towards cleaner, safer waterways and justice for our City’s residents.”
Los Angeles will use the $35 million to pay for abatement and monitoring of PCB-contaminated waterways. The chemicals have been found in Ballona Creek, Marina Del Rey, the Santa Monica Bay, the Los Angeles Harbor, Machado Lake, and Echo Park Lake.