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Monsanto Agrees To Pay $550 Million To Clean Up Ocean And River Pollution
Scenes from a Monday morning at Malibu Surfrider Beach. (James Bernal/LAist)
Decades ago, cancer-causing chemicals known as PCB's made their way from factories and electrical equipment into West Coast rivers and the ocean. On Wednesday, chemical giant Monsanto agreed to pay $550 million to help clean up the damage.
Monsanto starting making PCB's in the 1930s. But even after they were banned in the mid-'70s, the chemicals continue to damage fish and people.
Five years ago, Los Angeles County and Long Beach joined about a dozen other governments in several states and sued Monsanto, demanding it pay to reduce the PCB pollution.
The city and county will each get $7.5 million from the settlement. But more than 2,500 other local governments named in the class action lawsuit could eventually get a share.
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