Monsanto Successor Firms Agree To $17.9Mln Cleanup Of Polluted US Site - Justice Dept. - UrduPoint

Successor companies to the US agribusiness giant Monsanto agreed to spend $17.9 million to clean up more than 270 acres saturated with toxic waste from decades of industrial pollution, the Justice Department said on Tuesday.

"The settlement will require the companies to reimburse EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) $700,000 in past costs spent at the sites and take responsibility for implementing EPA's cleanup plan estimated to cost $17.9 million," the department said in a press release.

The two companies, Solutia and Pharmacia, will clean four former landfills and waste lagoons covering 270 acres in the state of Illinois, the release said.

The sites were used by area industry to dispose of hazardous and other wastes throughout much of the 20th century. Pollutants include PCBs, dioxin, lead, cadmium, benzene and chlorobenzene, the release added.

The cleanup requires placing engineered caps over identified waste areas, conducting vapor intrusion mitigation and controlling access to the sites, according to the release.

Tuesday's announcement marked the latest in a series of settlements dating back 15 years in which Solutia and Pharmacia paid for the removal of hazardous wastes and installed a slurry wall to prevent contaminated groundwater from leaching into the nearby Mississippi River.