East St. Louis hopes to revive $2.7B pollution case against Monsanto with appeal
East St. Louis is hoping to revive its claims for massive fines over alleged pollution from the old Monsanto chemical plant in Sauget by appealing a recent ruling against the city.
U.S. District Judge David W. Dugan of the Southern District of Illinois dismissed the city’s 2021 lawsuit against Monsanto and its successor companies, arguing it was filed too late. The statutes of limitations and repose had passed on contamination officials discovered decades ago, he said in his Feb. 27 ruling.
East St. Louis has since filed a notice of appeal on March 27.
The city has until May 6 to file a brief outlining its argument to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals.
In a statement, Monsanto described Dugan’s judgment as well-reasoned and “grounded in the record.”
“There is no basis for a different outcome on appeal,” the company stated.
East St. Louis’ complaint sought damages for contamination from toxic chemicals known as polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs.
According to the lawsuit, the Monsanto plant manufactured PCBs from 1936 to 1977, incinerated the chemicals there after 1977 and deposited PCB waste in toxic dumps in Sauget from the 1940s to the 1980s.
PCBs were used in hundreds of industrial and commercial applications, including in electrical, heat transfer and hydraulic equipment and in paints, plastics and rubber products, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. They have been shown to cause cancer and other serious health effects in animals and are probable carcinogens for humans.
Their manufacture has been banned since the 1970s, but the chemicals linger in the environment.
The city argued the Monsanto plant violated its municipal littering and nuisance ordinances, which are punishable by a fine of up to $750 per day. Lawyers for Monsanto Co., Solutia Inc. and Pharmacia LLC estimated in court documents that the cost of East St. Louis’ fines could be more than $2.7 billion.
This story was originally published April 6, 2026 at 9:20 AM.
