Maine defeats Monsanto’s Motion to Dismiss PCBs lawsuit

Maine Attorney General Aaron M. Frey filed suit against Monsanto Company in April of 2024 seeking to recover for the impairment of the State’s waterbodies and injuries to the State’s marine and aquatic species due to hazardous polychlorinated biphenyl (“PCB”) pollution from Monsanto’s manufacture and sale of these “forever chemicals” through the 1970s.  The State’s complaint alleges that Monsanto knew about the toxicity of PCBs and their tendency to accumulate and persist in humans, wildlife, and the environment well before the federal government banned PCBs for most uses in the 1970s, but continued selling them and even ramped up sales after widespread harms were documented.  On December 16, 2024, a Maine state court denied Monsanto’s motion to dismiss the State’s claims for public nuisance, private nuisance, strict liability for design defect, strict liability for failure to warn, and negligence, paving the way for the State to hold Monsanto accountable for its malfeasance.