Tom Hals

(Reuters) – Bayer AG Ohio (DE) agreed to a $80m settlement in order to fix environmental damage that was allegedly caused on the part of polychlorinated Biphenyls. Monsanto Thursday’s statement by the state attorney General was a declaration of business (NYSE:).

According to the attorney general, environmental cleanup will take place with the funds of the German company. The German company did not accept liability.

Bayer, OTC:, acquired Monsanto in 2018 for $63 Billion. It never manufactured PCBs or released them in Ohio, Bayer claimed in a statement.

They were previously used extensively to insulate electrical devices. The U.S. government outlawed them after they were linked to cancer in 1979.

Bayer is trying to settle a variety of cases related to Monsanto’s PCBs. These chemicals were in many commercial products between 1935 and 1977 when Monsanto stopped producing them.

The company also reached legal settlements in several states. It proposed a class action settlement of $648 million with approximately 2,500 cities, and other local government members. A federal judge approved the preliminary agreement last week.

The class members will have to decide whether they support, object, or withdraw from the agreement.

Bayer may withdraw from settlement if the opt-out rate is greater than 2%.

Bayer faces cases for personal injuries resulting from PCB exposure.

Last year, two separate juries awarded $247 million each in damages due to exposure at a Washington school. Bayer claimed that evidence was clear and plaintiffs had not been exposed to PCBs at unsafe levels. Bayer also stated that it would appeal both verdicts. The story now corrects paragraphs 5, 6 so that approximately 2,500 persons are eligible to join the class action and not thousands.