PCBs

This month marks two decades since the Monsanto chemical company settled with residents of the town of Anniston. The payments were over health issues blamed on chemicals called PCBs that Monsanto started manufacturing back in the mid 1930’s. People living in Anniston say cases of cancer and other medical problems were linked to PCB exposure. It was a situation that didn’t harm just one generation, but many. Alabama Public Radio asked one longtime resident to explain what happened to her family and how it impacted the direction her life would take.

This month is the twentieth anniversary of a legal settlement in the town of Anniston. Two companies agreed to pay over six hundred million dollars to thousands of residents in that community northeast of Birmingham. The issue was over health problems allegedly caused by chemicals called Polychlorinated biphenyls or PCBs for short. Anniston residents complained of health problems ranging from cancer to neurological effects. They blamed PCBs produced at a local factory for these illnesses

“Baptized in PCBs: Race, Pollution, and Justice in an All-American Town”Author: Ellen Griffith Spears Publisher: The University of North Carolina…

A new book from an assistant professor at the University of Alabama focuses on pollution problems in Anniston in the mid 1990's. The book titled “Baptized…

A new book tells the story of decades of chemical pollution in the east Alabama city of Anniston.Written by University of Alabama researcher Ellen…