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Monsanto: History of Contamination and Cover-up 5-16-08
- By Barbara L. Minton
The new Monsanto has clearly come to dominate the American food chain with
its genetically modified (GM) seeds. It's a master at enforcing its 674
biotechnology patents, using tyrannical and ruthless tactics against small
farmers. This new Monsanto has also moved into the production of milk with it
artificial growth hormones, seeking to dominate the dairy industry as
effectively as it has the seed business. Has this new corporate image made us
forget about the old Monsanto's decades long history of scorched earth and toxic
contamination?
An article in the May, 2008 edition of Vanity Fair chronicles the history of
Monsanto from its beginnings to its efforts to shed itself of the image of toxic
environmental and human threat.
A short history
Monsanto was founded in 1901 by John Francis Queeny who had an idea to make
money manufacturing saccharin, an artificial sweetener then imported from
Germany. He called his company Monsanto Chemical Works. The German cartel then
controlling the market for saccharin tried to force Queeny out of business, but
his persistence and the loyalty of one steady customer, Coca-Cola, kept the
company going. Vanillin, caffeine, sedative drugs, laxatives and aspirin had
been added to the arsenal of products when supplies were cut off from Europe
during World War I, forcing Monsanto to manufacture its own, and positioning it
as a leading force in the American chemical industry.
In the 1920's, Queeny's son took over and built Monsanto into a global
powerhouse, extending into the production of an astounding array of plastic,
rubber and vinyl goods, fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides.
In the 1970's Monsanto moved into biotechnology. By 1982 it had become the first
to genetically modify a plant cell, making it possible to introduce virtually
any gene into plant cells to improve crop productivity. According to Vanity Fair
writers Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele, Monsanto sought to portray GM
seeds as a panacea for alleviating poverty and feeding the hungry.
During the late 1990's, Monsanto spun off its chemical and fibers businesses
into a new company called Solutia. It then reincorporated itself and emerged as
an agricultural company.
Company literature refers to Monsanto as a "relatively new company" with the
primary goal of helping "farmers around the world in their mission to feed,
clothe and fuel" the planet. The listed corporate milestones are from the recent
era. There is no mention of the old Monsanto's potential responsibility for more
than 50 Environmental Protection Agency Superfund sites. And it does not mention
that the reason for the formation of Solutia was to channel the bulk of the
mounting chemical lawsuits and liabilities into the spun off company, keeping
the new Monsanto name tarnish-free. But keeping the new corporate image polished
may be a tough task. For many years Monsanto produced two of the most toxic
substances ever known -- polychlorinated biphenyls, known as PCBs, and dioxin.
Several court proceedings regarding these substances remain unresolved.
Toxic storm
In the town of Nitro, West Virginia, Monsanto operated a chemical plant from
1929 to 1995, making an herbicide that had dioxin as a by-product. The name
dioxin refers to a group of highly toxic chemicals that have been linked to
heart and liver disease, human reproductive disorders, and developmental
problems. Dioxin persists in the environment and accumulates in the body, even
in small amounts. In 2001, the U.S. government listed dioxin as a "known human
carcinogen".
In 1949, at the Nitro plant, a pressure valve blew on a container of this
herbicide, producing a plume of vapor and white smoke that drifted out over the
town. Residue coated the interior of buildings and those inside them with a fine
black powder. Within days, workers experienced skin eruptions, and many were
diagnosed with chloracne, a long lasting and disfiguring condition. Others felt
intense pains in their chest, legs and trunk. A medical report from the time
said the explosion "caused a systemic intoxication in the workers involving most
major organ systems." Doctors detected a strong odor coming from the patients
they described as men "excreting a foreign chemical through their skins".
Monsanto downplayed the incident, saying that the contaminant was "fairly slow
acting" and only an irritant to the skin.
Meanwhile, the Nitro plant continued to produce herbicides, In the 1960's it
manufactured Agent Orange, the powerful herbicide used by the U.S. military to
defoliate jungles during the Vietnam War, and which became the focus of lawsuits
by veterans contending they had been harmed by exposure to the chemical. Agent
Orange also created dioxin as a by-product.
At the Nitro plant, dioxin waste went into landfills, storm drains, streams,
sewers, into bags with the herbicide, and then the waste was burned out into the
air. Dioxin from the plant can still be found in nearby streams, rivers, and
fish. Residents have sued Monsanto and Solutia for damages, but Monsanto claims
"the allegations are without merit" and promises to vigorously defend itself.
The suit may drag on for years. Monsanto has the resources to wait; plaintiffs
usually don't.
Poisoned earth
From 1929 to 1971, the Anniston, Alabama plant produced PCBs as industrial
coolants and insulating fluids for transformers and other electrical equipment.
PCBs became central to American industries as lubricants, hydraulic fluids, and
sealants. PCBs are highly toxic members of a family of chemicals that mimic
hormones, and have been linked to damage in the liver and nervous system, as
well as immune, endocrine and reproductive disorders. The Environmental
Protective Agency (EPA), and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease
Registry, part of Health and Human Services, classify PCBs as "probably
carcinogens".
Today, after tons of contaminated soil have been removed in an effort to reclaim
the Anniston site, the area around the old Monsanto plant continues to be one of
the most polluted spots in the U.S. While the plant was in production, excess
PCBs were dumped in a nearby open-pit landfill or allowed to flow off the
property with storm water. Some were poured directly into a creek running
alongside the plant and emptying into a larger stream. PCBs are contained in
private lawns fertilized with soil from the plant.
The people of Anniston have breathed air, planted gardens, drunk from wells,
fished in rivers, and swum in creeks contaminated with PCBs without knowing the
danger. As public awareness grew in the 1990's, health authorities found
elevated levels of PCBs in houses, yards, streams, fields, fish -- and people.
The cleanup is now underway, and will take years, but once PCB is absorbed into
human tissue, it is there forever.
Monsanto closed its PBC plant in Wales in 1977. In recent years, residents of
Groesfaen, in southern Wales, have noticed vile odors emanating from an old
quarry outside their village. As it turns out, Monsanto dumped thousands of tons
of waste from its nearby PCB plant into the quarry. British authorities have
identified the site as one of the most contaminated places in Britain.
What did Monsanto know about the potential dangers of the chemicals it
manufactured? Information from court records indicates Monsanto knew quite a
lot. The evidence that Monsanto refused to face questions about the toxicity of
PBCs is clear.
In 1956, the company tried to sell its PCB containing hydraulic fluid, Pydraul
150, to the navy. Monsanto supplied the navy with test results from the product,
but the navy decided to do its own testing. As a result, navy officials informed
Monsanto that they would not buy the product, saying that "application of
Pydraul 150 caused death in all of the rabbits tested" and indicated "definite
liver damage". According to an internal Monsanto memo divulged during a court
proceeding, "no matter how we discussed the situation, it was impossible to
change their thinking that Pydraul 150 is just too toxic for use in submarines",
stated Monsanto's medical director.
In 1966, a biologist conducting studies for Monsanto in streams near the
Anniston plant submerged test fish. He reported to Monsanto that, "All 25 fish
lost equilibrium and turned on their sides in 10 seconds and all were dead in 3
½ minutes."
The company swung into action to limit the PR damage when the Food and Drug
Administration found high levels of PCBs in fish near the Anniston plant in
1970. An internal memo entitled "Confidential -- F.Y.I. and Destroy" from a
Monsanto official, reviewed steps to limit disclosure of the information. One
aspect of the strategy was to get public officials to fight Monsanto's battle:
"Joe Crockett, Secretary of the Alabama Water Improvement Commission will try to
handle the problem quietly without release of the information to the public at
this time," according to the memo.
The plant manager of Monsanto's Anniston site "convinced" a reporter for The
Anniston Star that there was nothing to worry about. An internal memo from
Monsanto's headquarters in St. Louis, summarized the story that subsequently
appeared in the newspaper: "Quoting both plant management and the Alabama Water
Improvement Commissions, the feature emphasized the PCB problem was relatively
new, was being solved by Monsanto and, at this point, was no cause for public
alarm."
The real truth is that there was huge cause for public alarm for the harm done
to the public by Monsanto. But that was the old Monsanto, not today's shiny new
Monsanto. Today's Monsanto says it can be trusted -- that its biotech crops are
"as wholesome, nutritious and safe as conventional crop", and that the milk
produced from cows injected with its artificial growth hormones is identical to
the milk from untreated cows.
About the author
Barbara is a school psychologist, a published author in the area of personal
finance, a breast cancer survivor using "alternative" treatments, a born
existentialist, and a student of nature and all things natural.