Why I’m suing Monsanto on behalf of our state and schools

CHARITY CLARK

Vermont Attorney General

Like many Vermonters, I have a deep connection to Vermont’s forests, clean water and green landscape. I grew up hiking and skiing in our beautiful Green Mountains, swimming in our rivers and ponds, and watching sunsets over Lake Champlain. I believe that when bad actors poison our natural resources, they are harming the soul of Vermont and they must be held accountable.

Monsanto manufactured, marketed, distributed and sold toxic and dangerous chemical compounds called polychlori- nated biphenyls, or PCBs, from 1929 to 1977. PCB products were sold, including in Vermont, for use in household and business products like paints, caulks, inks, dyes, paper products, sealants, fi reproofi ng and electrical equipment. The result is that Vermont’s surface waters and aquatic wildlife have been contaminated with PCBs.

Lake Champlain is severely contaminated with PCBs, and there are fi sh advisories for lake trout taken from Lake Champlain. Not only that, but our statewide PCB testing program has shown that many Vermont schools are also contaminated and will require remediation. As

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Monsanto knew, PCBs inevitably volatilize and leach, leak and escape from their intended applications and products, contaminating runoff during storm and rain events. And PCBs persist in the natural environment rather than break down over time.

This is why I have sued Monsanto on behalf of Vermont’s environment, schools, our children and future generations. I am leveraging the full force of my office to hold Monsanto accountable for knowingly creating and distributing PCBs.

I’m proud that Vermont is the fi rst state in the country to stand up a statewide school testing program. School testing will provide further insights into additional schools that will need to be remediated.

As Vermont’s school testing program continues, we expect the number of contaminated schools to grow. Vermonters should know that I intend to turn over every rock and search for every penny to get Vermont the most funding possible to help remediate. Vermont taxpayers should not have to bear the full cost of cleaning up someone else’s mess.

Of course, there are no guarantees in litigation, and this could be a long fight, but, as your Attorney General, I am in this for the long haul. We know from past lawsuits against bad actors that the money we are able to recoup may not be enough. But we must hold Monsanto accountable for the harm that it has caused to this state we all love.

As Attorney General, I take very seriously my role of protecting Vermont and Vermonters, and I will work as hard as I can to achieve the best result possible for our state. As a mother of a school-aged child, as a Vermonter, and especially as your Attorney General, I will always fight to protect Vermont’s environment.

Letters To The Editor

No fun on the Fourth

Why was the Fourth of July parade so lame? I find it really sad that a handful of people make up the rules for everyone else.

So you can’t squirt water, you can’t blow horns and no music is allowed in our parade? Who said that is OK? Who wants boring parades? What happened to having fun on the Fourth with the parade?

Whoever created these rules needs to rethink what they have done to our Fourth of July parade.

Melissa LaFrance Williston

Book sale gratitude

A very big thank you to all the community volunteers, including Boy Scout troop 692, for their help with the Friends of the Library book sale. Volunteers helped sort books in June, set up tables for the sale, hauled 467 boxes of books from the library to the school and set the books out on the tables for display. They also worked and helped at the actual book sale and broke it down on the afternoon of July Fourth.

Perhaps the biggest thank you goes to all the people who donated books for the sale. It wouldn’t happen without you.

The book sale made $7,595, which the Friends of the Library will use to support library programs throughout the year.

Ann Park Secretary/Treasurer