KC firm agrees to pay $10M to NW Mo. farmers

Sunday, March 4, 2012

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.

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