Maryland joins others in suing Bayer over PCB contamination

Logo of Bayer AG is pictured at the annual results news conference of the German drugmaker in Leverkusen, Germany February 27, 2019. REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay

(Reuters) – Maryland sued Bayer AG on Tuesday seeking money to clean up environmental contamination in the state’s waterways the state says is due to toxic chemicals the company’s Monsanto Co unit made decades ago.

In a complaint filed Tuesday in state court in Baltimore, the state said Monsanto, which Bayer acquired in 2018, knew as early as the 1930s that polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were toxic and lingered in the environment but continued to produce and sell them.

By the time the chemicals were banned in 1979, they had contaminated the state’s waterways, including the Susquehanna River, Baltimore Harbor and the Chesapeake Bay, as well as its fish and wildlife, the state said.

“Monsanto’s toxic legacy lives on,” Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh said in a statement. “Until today, Marylanders have borne the cost of cleaning up these poisons. It is time for Monsanto to take full responsibility.”

Bayer said in a statement that the lawsuit was without merit.

“Monsanto voluntarily ceased its lawful manufacturing of PCBs more than 40 years ago, and never manufactured, used, or disposed of PCBs into Maryland’s lands or waters, and therefore should not be held liable for the contamination alleged by the state,” it said.

Bayer has faced numerous lawsuits over PCBs, including a class action led by local governments including Los Angeles County and the cities of San Diego, Baltimore and Portland, Oregon. The company maintained that the plaintiffs could not show a direct causal link between Monsanto’s conduct and any damages, but in June 2020 agreed to settle the case for $648 million without admitting wrongdoing.

A federal judge in November 2020 rejected that deal, finding that it appeared overly broad in shielding Bayer from future claims. The company has said it expects a modified version of the settlement addressing those concerns to be approved.

The company is also facing nearly 200 claims by people who say they were harmed by Monsanto-made PCBs at a Washington state school. The two trials in that litigation have resulted in verdicts of $185 million and $62 million.

PCBs were once used widely to insulate electrical equipment, and were also used in such products as carbonless copy paper, caulking, floor finish and paint. They were outlawed by the U.S. government in 1979 after being linked to cancer and other health problems. Monsanto produced PCBs from 1935 to 1977.

The case is State of Maryland v. Monsanto Co, Circuit Court for Baltimore City.

For Maryland: Assistant Attorney General Adam Snyder; Ari Casper of The Casper Firm; Amy Williams-Derry of Keller Rohrback; and Keith Ketterling of Stoll Berne

For Bayer: not immediately available

Read more:

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Bayer says to appeal U.S. court ruling on PCBs if necessary

U.S. judge rejects $648 million Bayer PCB contamination settlement