Originally published January 4 2012
Class action lawsuit against Monsanto for Agent Orange pollution while Dow seeks deregulation for Agent Orange resistant corn
by Jonathan Benson, staff writer
(NaturalNews) Residents of a small West Virginia town near a Monsanto chemical production plant have filed a class action lawsuit against the agri-giant for pollution caused by the decades-long production of 2,4,5-T, a chemical compound that represents about half of the infamous Agent Orange herbicide. At the very same time, the Dow Chemical Company is seeking government deregulation of a new genetically-modified (GM) variety of corn resistant to 2,4-D, the other half of Agent Orange.
Agent Orange is the same herbicide chemical weapon that the US government sprayed over agricultural land in Vietnam during the Vietnam War, and that has been banned since the 1970s. Nearly a half million people were killed, and another half million children born with birth defects, as a result of the mass murder sprayings conducted by the US government and military.
But tens of thousands of Americans have also suffered from exposure to Agent Orange chemicals as well, particularly those living in Nitro, WV, where Monsanto had been producing the carcinogenic chemicals for many decades. More than 80,000 local residents are included in a class action lawsuit against Monsanto, which highlights the cancer-causing effects of exposure to 2,4,5-T.
However, while this lawsuit takes shape, the Dow Chemical Company, another purveyor of GMOs and their toxic herbicides and pesticides, is petitioning the government to deregulate a new variety of GM corn known as DAS-40278-9, which has a built-in resistance to 2,4-D. This means, of course, that the company will need to spray 2,4-D on the crops in order for them to grow, which would require the EPA to lift its ban on the chemical (http://www.naturalnews.com/034492_Dow_AgroSc...).
2,4-D is said to be the less lethal portion of Agent Orange, and yet it is known to cause very serious health problems, including abdominal cavity bleeding and increased mortality in pregnant rats. The chemical is also linked to causing serious birth defects, organ damage, neurological dysfunction, and infertility (http://pmep.cce.cornell.edu/profiles/extoxne...).
With both this and the lawsuit in mind, it is absolutely ludicrous that Dow is now seeking permission to douse the American agricultural landscape in these very same Agent Orange chemicals. Perhaps the company simply thinks nobody is paying attention and that it will quietly get away with this little scheme by keeping it quiet -- if so, it is sadly mistaken.
Sources for this article include:
http://www.lef.org/news/LefDailyNews.htm?New...
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