The world according to Monsanto : pollution, corruption, and

2Dioxin: A Polluter Workingwith the PentagonWe believe that a human rights policy to guide our actions as a global corporatecitizen is a logical next step to our Monsanto pledge—to address the importanceof showing and advancing respect for our people and those affected byour actions.—Monsanto, Pledge Report, 2005“Dioxin? That poison has given me nightmares for twenty-five years,” saidMarilyn Leistner as she parked her car in front of the Route 66 State Parkvisitor center about twenty miles from St. Louis. “Take a look, there’s nothingleft of Times Beach. Who could imagine that this was once a town offourteen hundred where more than eight hundred families lived?”It is indeed hard to imagine. It was October 2006, and we were in front ofa newly refurbished building that housed a kitschy tribute to the mythicalRoute 66. One of the original U.S. highways, the “Mother Road” ran for2,400 miles from Chicago through eight states, including Missouri, to LosAngeles. Next to the building stood a Western-style wooden sign with thewords “Route 66 State Park.” “They wiped Times Beach off the map andput a state park on the decontaminated site to bury one of the worst dioxinscandals in the United States,” said Leistner, the last mayor of the vanishedtown.