By AP/KWMU
SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – Nearly 600 workers at a General Electric plant in upstate New York are suing St. Louis-based Monsanto for $2 billion. The suit is related to exposure to PCBs.
The workers claim the exposure either hurt them or put them at risk for future disease.
Monsanto made PCBs for decades before Congress banned chemicals in 1977. But the lawsuit claims Monsanto kept selling PCBs while being aware of the risks.
The company says it doesn't think it has any liability.
Officials with the union representing the workers says the employees were never told about the dangers involved with handling the substance.
Monsanto and one of its spin-off companies, Soultia, settled a lawsuit in Alabama two years ago for more than $700 million. That lawsuit also dealt with exposure to PCB's.