Monsanto Pays $10M For Spraying Illegal Pesticide

Introduction

On Thursday, agrochemicals company Monsanto, a unit of Bayer AG, was found liable for spraying illegal pesticides on research crops in Maui, Hawaii.

According to the court documents, the manufacturer agreed to the misconduct of storing and using Penncap-M, an "acute hazardous waste" in 2014. The company was aware that the product was banned for use after 2013 and told the employees to reenter the area after seven days of spraying, whereas the set time was 31 days.

The fine includes a $6 million criminal fine and $4 million in community service payments, along with $200,000 fine for the spraying offense. The amount will be split between five Hawaiian government agencies, including the state's agriculture and health departments. The Department of Justice will drop the felony charges in two years if the company complies with the terms and pays the fines.

IARC, considered to be the apex in the field of cancer research, classified glyphosate as a “probable human carcinogen.” According to IARC, Roundup is made up of other ingredients that are toxic in themselves, and are also known to increase the toxicity of glyphosate. Monsanto has known this for many years but still refuses to study the link between cancer and Roundup.

Monsanto has a brief history of legal troubles and Glyphosate is just another herbicide of the company to attract lawsuits. Plaintiffs across the U.S. have filed numerous lawsuits. A plaintiff from one of the Roundup lawsuits claims that she worked as a grower’s assistant on a crop field in New York from 1994 to 1998 where Roundup was regularly sprayed indoors and outdoors resulting in chronic lymphocytic leukemia in 2012. She eventually quit the job and is currently seeking reasonable compensation and punitive damages in court.

The company is also facing several lawsuits with its weedkiller Roundup. The lawsuits are consolidated under federal multidistrict litigation (MDL No. 2741; In Re: Roundup Products Liability Litigation) in the Northern District of California, presided by U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria.

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