Nearly 20 years after Caribbean islanders sued the French government for the banana industry’s extended use of a banned pesticide in Martinique and Guadeloupe, a panel of judges dismissed their case, ruling that it’s too hard to determine who’s to blame for acts so long ago.
The Paris judges called the use of chlordecone from 1973 to 1993 a scandalous “environmental attack” whose human, economic, and social consequences will affect the two French Caribbean islands for years. Even in the 1990s, they said, scientists hadn’t linked chlordecone to human illness.
“How dare they write such a historical and scientific untruth,” a lawyer said Thursday.
Chlordecone, also known as kepone, was patented in the 1950s by Allied Chemical, a US company based in New Jersey now called Allied Corporation. Millions of pounds of the pesticide were produced, and nearly all of it was exported.
The US banned the pesticide in 1976, a year after the Virginia health department permanently closed a Life Science Products chemical plant in Hopewell, Va., whose workers developed slurred speech and other neurological problems.
However, chlordecone was legally marketed in France from 1981 until 1990, and its use continued for three more years in Guadeloupe and Martinique under a French exemption. It contaminates soil and water decades later.
The French government estimates that 90% of adults on both islands were exposed to chlordecone. These islanders have one of the highest prostate cancer rates in the world, according to French researchers. French studies link chlordecone to preterm births.
“It’s unthinkable that those responsible die without being held accountable,” Lèguevaques said. He urged his clients to appeal the court’s January 2 ruling.
Paris-based environmental group Générations Futures is also appealing.
“This decision, while disappointing, is not a surprise,” the group said Friday, vowing to continue representing those affected until “the truth comes out and justice is served.”
In a separate lawsuit filed by activists, organizations, and victims, the Paris central court found the French government guilty of wrongful negligence involving chlordecone, but denied compensation to those affected. Judges ruled that defendants didn’t provide enough details to justify “anxiety damage.”
Because it’s a public health issue, the legal saga is taking place in Paris instead of Guadeloupe or Martinique. A special health unit in the central Paris court is handling it.
Officials continue testing islanders for chlordecone for free.
