Forbes covers the aftermath of the much-ballyhooed Aug. 2003 settlement in which Monsanto/Solutia (which, because of a complicated history, is different from the company currently calling itself Monsanto) agreed to pay hundreds of millions of dollars to resolve the claims of thousands of residents of Anniston, Ala. about the company’s former release of PCBs. Despite earlier commentary (including ours of Apr. 15) pegging the settlement at $300 million with $120 million going to plaintiff’s lawyers, Forbes says the actual figures (counting all the cases settled) amount to a total $600 million with 39%, or $234 million, going to the lawyers, who include former senator Donald Stewart and Johnnie Cochran of O.J. fame. “What has unfolded in Anniston instead [of the expected big payouts for poor plaintiffs] is a financial free-for-all, an unseemly grab for money by the lawyers, residents and assorted hangers-on.” One trouble sign: many of the people putting in claims for damages have zero PCBs in their blood, and some never lived a day in Anniston in their lives. (Susan Kitchens, “Money Grab”, Forbes, Nov. 15 ($) or at KeepMedia).

Filed under: environment