A picture taken on May 24, 2016 in Lillo near Antwerp shows the Monsanto logo on a building at the firm Manufacturing Site and Operations Center. (AFP Photo/JOHN THYS) |
Biotech giant Monsanto on Thursday 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 and to pay $10 million in fines.
The company
admitted in court documents filed in US 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.
In its
guilty plea, Monsanto admitted that after the 2014 spraying, it told employees
to enter the sprayed fields a week later even though it knew the workers should
have been kept from entering the area for 31 days.
The plea
calls for Monsanto to pay a $6 million criminal fine and $4 million in
community service payments to Hawaiian government entities.
Hanna's
office said the government agreed to dismiss felony charges in two years if
Monsanto abides by the plea agreement.
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