In Winfield, West Virginia, Putnam County Circuit Court Judge O.C. Spaulding elevated two lawsuits against a Monsanto Co. plant to class-action status. The lawsuits alleges that the former plant contaminated residential areas with dioxin.

Dioxin is a hazardous chemical that is known to remain and build up in fat tissue of animals and humans over long periods of time. Short term exposure could be very dangerous. Dioxin has been linked to birth defects, endometriosis, cancer, infertility, suppressed immunity, and learning disabilities.

The two lawsuits allege that the Monsanto Company, which owned a plant in Nitro, West Virginia until 2000, was contaminating streams and properties of locals with dioxin. The Monsanto Company is a producer of herbicides, and had produced an ingredient called 2,4,5-T that was found to contain dioxin. The Nitro plant produced the powerful ingredient 2,4,5-T for over 30 years, beginning production in 1949.

One of the lawsuits was filed in August 2000 involves approximately 100 owned properties in the Nitro area, specifically in the Heizer Creek and Manila communities. This lawsuit alleges that Monsanto Co. dumped dioxin and did not perform proper waste management of area landfills. The lawsuit seeks punitive damages, and money to help clean up the polluted streams and properties.

The second case, filed in December 2004, could potentially involve thousands of Nitro area residents. This lawsuit alleges that the entire city of Nitro was contaminated as a result of Monsanto’s dioxin waste. It also seeks property cleanups and punitive damages, along with money for residents’ medical expenses.

Source: “Judge gives Monsanto suits class-action status,”Herald Dispatch, January 12, 2008.