Groundskeeper’s Monsanto Lawsuit Draws $78 Million Award
That amount was reduced by a judge from the jury's original $289 million finding in a case claiming that Monsanto's weedkiller, Roundup, caused cancer. Also in the news, the Environmental Protection Agency extended by two years its approval of a controversial weedkiller, XtendiMax. Meanwhile, some families are moving closer to filing suit against the EPA over a toxic paint stripper.
NPR:
Groundskeeper Accepts Reduced $78 Million Award In Monsanto Cancer Suit
The groundskeeper who won a massive civil suit against Bayer's Monsanto claiming that the weedkiller Roundup caused his cancer has agreed to accept $78 million, after a judge substantially reduced the jury's original $289 million award. Dewayne "Lee" Johnson, a Northern Californian groundskeeper and pest-control manager, was 42 when he developed a strange rash that would lead to a diagnosis of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in August 2014. (Sullivan, 11/1)
The Wall Street Journal:
EPA Allows Farmers To Keep Using Bayer’s Controversial Weedkiller
The Environmental Protection Agency will continue to allow farmers to spray crops with a controversial weedkiller, while tightening restrictions, the agency said. The EPA extended by two years its approval of XtendiMax, a version of the herbicide dicamba made by Bayer, which some farmers and researchers have blamed for damaging millions of acres of crops over the past two years. (Bunge, 10/31)
The Associated Press:
Families Take Step Toward Suing EPA For Toxic Paint Stripper
The mothers of two men killed by a toxic paint stripper took a step toward suing the Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday for failing to take quick action to remove the product from the market. The EPA had pledged in May, after then-Administrator Scott Pruitt met with families of two victims, to wrap up action “shortly” on proposed Obama-era regulations that would eliminate most allowable uses of the paint-stripping solvent methylene chloride. (Knickmeyer, 10/31)