Illinois Judge Gives Preliminary OK to Herbicide Settlement

A federal judge in southern Illinois has given preliminary approval to a $105 million settlement between Syngenta and community water systems in six states over one of the chemical maker’s popular agricultural herbicides.

U.S. District Judge J. Phil Gilbert on Wednesday ruled that the deal announced last week appears to be “a good compromised result for the parties.”

The agreement would settle a nearly 8-year-old lawsuit over weed-killing atrazine and help reimburse nearly 2,000 community water systems that have had to filter the chemical from their drinking water.

An attorney behind the lawsuit says those water systems serve more than 52 million Americans in Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Kansas, Missouri and Ohio.

Syngenta says it agreed to settle the matter “to end the business uncertainty” and avoid further legal costs.