Three California towns are currently suing Monsanto for poisoning San Francisco Bay with PCBs, chemicals known to cause cancer. Many involved in the lawsuit hope the court’s ultimate decision will make it easier for other cities across the US to hold companies, like Monsanto, liable for environmental damage. Until now, companies that cause long-term damage are rarely, if ever considered “at fault” by the US Government. If the towns from California win, it could set a new precedent for the rights of communities to hold manufacturers liable, even if the company didn’t cause a “direct event” such as an oil spill. The new law would mean that something that occurs slowly and over a long period of time (like the poisoning of San Francisco Bay by PCBs), would be considered the fault of Monsanto. However, the lawsuits currently held against Monsanto are facing a major problem as Ken Cook at the Mercury News explains: [T]he lawsuits could be thwarted by legislation pending in Congress. A little-noticed provision in an industry-friendly chemical regulation bill could let Monsanto off the hook for production of PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, banned in the U.S. since 1979. The Monsanto bailout clause is in a House bill to [...]