Biotech giant Monsanto agreed to plead guilty to illegally
using a banned and highly toxic pesticide on research crops at one of its
facilities on the Hawaiian island of Maui.
Monsanto on Thursday was forced to pay $10 million in fines.
The company admitted in court documents filed in U.S.
District Court in Honolulu that it sprayed the pesticide known as Penncap-M on
corn seed and other crops at its Valley Farm facility in 2014, even though it
knew the chemical had been banned by the Environmental Protection Agency the
year before.
"The illegal conduct in this case posed a threat to the
environment, surrounding communities and Monsanto workers," said Nick
Hanna, the United States Attorney for the Central District of California, whose
office handled the case. "Federal laws and regulations impose a clear duty
on every user of regulated and dangerous chemicals to ensure the products are
safely stored, transported and used."
The case against Monsanto was brought as the agriculture
giant faced a slew of lawsuits arguing that its Roundup weed killer causes
cancer.
Federal prosecutors had initially sought to file felony
charges against the company for illegally spraying Penncap-M, a nerve agent.
But they reportedly agreed to let the company plead to a lesser misdemeanor
offense after Monsanto's lawyers intervened at the highest levels of the
Department of Justice.
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