West Virginia Residents Sue Chemical Plant for Exposure to Toxins

By Daniel Hawn

Published on January 12, 2007

The lawsuit involves current and former residents of Nitro, West Virginia, where the now-defunct chemical plant of the old Monsanto Company’s Agricultural Division operated from 1934-2000. People who suffered illness or personal injury as a result of abnormal exposure to dioxins/furans between 1949 and today will be represented.

The complainants allege that an agricultural herbicide produced at the plant, 2,4,5-trichlorophenoxyacidic acid, was contaminated with dioxins/furans, which the company knew was toxic.

The suit cites a 1949 incident in which a safety disc blew open at the plant, exposing workers to a chemical cloud that caused 226 people to become ill. Medical reports following that fateful incident found systemic intoxication in the workers, presumably caused by exposure to the toxins.

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