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Monsanto found guilty of polluting
David Teather in New York
Monday February 25, 2002
The Guardian
Monsanto, the company linked to the development of genetically modified food, has been found guilty of decades of pollution in a small US town. The verdict, a victory for 3,500 residents in the Alabama town of Anniston, opened the door for millions of dollars of claims against the company and Solutia, its former chemicals business that was spun off in 1997. Damages have not yet been set. Monsanto had been accused of pumping the local river with chemicals called PCBs, which were banned by the US government in the 1970s as a possible carcinogen. It had also buried waste in a landfill. Lawyers claimed Monsanto had deliberately covered up evidence that the PCBs were harmful, including evidence of fish dying in nearby creeks. Internal memos were produced that insisted they should protect the image of the corporation. One said: "We can't afford to lose one dollar of business." Although a clear link between the chemicals and cancer has not been proven, the people of Anniston have argued for years that their cancer rate is abnormally high. Some of the plaintiffs were found to have PCBs in their blood 27 times higher than the national average. Monsanto's defence was that it closed the plant in 1971, eight years before the government ban. The company said it was not aware the chemicals were being released or that they could be dangerous. It has spent $40m (£27m) on a clean-up operation. Other residents' claims are proceeding in separate state trials and 15,000 are planning to pursue a class action. The company has paid $80m in out of court settlements. Pharmacia, the firm that bought Monsanto in 2000, was also found liable. The chairman of Solutia, John Hunter, said he was disappointed by the verdict. "We understand that Anniston residents have concerns about PCBs. As we've said from the beginning, we're committed to doing what's fair to deal properly with the impacts of previous PCB production at our plant."
Beguiled by the promise of future riches, he borrowed money in order to buy the GM seeds. But when the harvests failed, he was left with spiralling debts - and no income.
So Shankara became one of an estimated 125,000 farmers to take their own life as a result of the ruthless drive to use India as a testing ground for genetically modified crops.
In one small village I visited, 18 farmers had committed suicide after being sucked into GM debts. In some cases, women have taken over farms from their dead husbands - only to kill themselves as well.
Latta Ramesh, 38, drank insecticide after her crops failed - two years after her husband disappeared when the GM debts became too much.
But with GM seeds they cannot do this. That's because GM seeds contain so- called 'terminator technology', meaning that they have been genetically modified so that the resulting crops do not produce viable seeds of their own.
As a result, farmers have to buy new seeds each year at the same punitive prices. For some, that means the difference between life and death.
Take the case of Suresh Bhalasa, another farmer who was cremated this week, leaving a wife and two children.
As night fell after the ceremony, and neighbours squatted outside while sacred cows were brought in from the fields, his family had no doubt that their troubles stemmed from the moment they were encouraged to buy BT Cotton, a geneticallymodified plant created by Monsanto.
'We are ruined now,' said the dead man's 38-year-old wife. 'We bought 100 grams of BT Cotton. Our crop failed twice. My husband had become depressed. He went out to his field, lay down in the cotton and swallowed insecticide.'
Excerpt from Macleans Magazine May 17, 1999. Article by Mark Nichols
"For 40 years, Percy Schmeiser has grown canola on his farm near Bruno, Sask., about 80 km east of Saskatoon, usually sowing each crop of the oil-rich plants with seeds saved from the previous harvest. And he has never, says Schmeiser, purchased seed from the St. Louis, Mo.-based agricultural and biotechnology giant Monsanto Co. Even so, he says that more than 320 hectares of his land is now "contaminated" by Monsanto's herbicide-resistant Roundup Ready canola, a man made variety produced by a controversial process known as genetic engineering. And, like hundreds of other North American farmer, Schmeiser has felt the sting of Monsanto's long legal arm: last August the company took the 68-year-old farmer to court, claiming he illegally planted the firm's canola without paying a $37-per-hectare fee for the privilege. Unlike scores of similarly accused North American farmers who have reached out-of-court settlements with Monsanto, Schmeiser fought back. He claims Monsanto investigators trespassed on his land -- and that company seed could easily have blown on to his soil from passing canola-laden trucks. "I never put those plants on my land," says Schmeiser. "The question is, where do Monsanto's rights end and mine begin?"
"In my case, I never had anything to do with Monsanto, outside of buying chemicals. I never signed a contract," Schmeiser says. At the end of the first suit, Schmeiser says he will pursue a second lawsuit he filed last fall against Monsanto for contaminating his seed.
"If I would go to St. Louis and contaminate their plots--destroy what they have worked on for 40 years--I think I would be put in jail and the key thrown away," Schmeiser says.
The Federal Court of Canada issued their judgment in the case of Monsanto vs Schmeiser Enterprises over the technology use fee for Round Up Ready canola on March 29, 2001. Justice Andrew McKay upheld the validity of Monsanto's patented gene which it inserts into canola varieties to make them resistant to their herbicide Round Up.
McKay dismissed Schmeiser's challenge to the patent based on the claim Monsanto could not control how the gene was dispersed through the countryside.
In a key part of the ruling, the judge agreed a farmer can generally own the seeds or plants grown on his land if they blow in or are carried there by pollen -- but the judge says this is not true in the case of genetically modified seed
Originally posted by A52FWY
The greedy elite in the US must be stopped open your eyes.
This is rather a sweeping statement that because one company has made mistakes, all companies across the board are the problem.
Originally posted by Berens
reply to post by defiler
So, a bunch of people who are disgruntled that their documentary was not shown make a youtube video. Why should I believe them?
And if their message is not getting out on other news channels, then I guess all the news channels are in the tank for Monsanto.
Nah. B.S. by losers.
Originally posted by TrueAmerican
...about Monsanto's latest atrocity- something to do with the acquisition of certain land to be able to increase their production of Roundup- you know, that grass killing stuff that won't go away and is supposed to just kill the weeds?
Originally posted by Berens
reply to post by defiler
If Monsanto and other "evil" companies are poisoning us with their chemicals, how come people are living longer lives than ever before? HUH?
Originally posted by Berens
reply to post by defiler
So, a bunch of people who are disgruntled that their documentary was not shown make a youtube video. Why should I believe them?
And if their message is not getting out on other news channels, then I guess all the news channels are in the tank for Monsanto.
Nah. B.S. by losers.