Saturday, January 28, 2017

Monsanto Sues State Over Cancer Warning for Herbicide

Superior Court Judge Kristi Kapetan ruled Friday against agrochemical giant Monsanto’s attempt to keep from labeling the herbicide Roundup as a cancer-causing agent. The case pitted the Monsanto company against Cal EPA’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment. The battle was over the state’s tentative decision to list Glyphosate, the main component of the widely-used weed killer, as a Proposition 65 chemical known to cause cancer. The designation would require Monsanto to print a warning on the label. The agrochemical giant pushed back with a lawsuit against the agency. Supporting the state was prominent environmental attorney Robert F. Kennedy Jr working with a Los Angeles law firm representing victims of Roundup use. After the hearing the attorneys held a press conference along with the families of farmers and farmworkers who have been harmed or died as a result of using Roundup. Pacifica’s Vic Bedoian reports from Fresno.