KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - A Kansas City engineering firm has agreed to pay a total of $10 million to more than a dozen northwest Missouri farmers who used fertilizer from a St. Joseph tannery on their fields.
Burns & McDonnell Engineering Co. did not admit to wrongdoing and denies it caused harm to any property. A class-action lawsuit filed in 2009 by a Kansas City law firm involves farmland in Buchanan, Clinton, DeKalb and Andrew counties.
The Kansas City Star (http://bit.ly/wP4vZd) reports the suit claimed sludge Prime Tanning provided to farmers as fertilizer contained hexavalent chromium, a dangerous chemical.
The tannery gave sludge to farmers over three decades, with Burns & McDonnell providing technical consulting during some of that time.
The suit is separate from other legal actions involving health issues.