Monsanto, once the largest makers of a now-banned class of chemicals, agreed to pay the state $120 million and potentially more, under a settlement announced by Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul on Monday.

Raoul sued Monsanto in 2022 alleging that company officials long knew that widely used polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, were dangerous to people and the environment even as they denied it.

In use for about half a century, PCBs were banned in 1979 because of their high toxicity. The chemicals, believed to be carcinogens and the cause of multiple other illnesses, don’t break down easily in the environment.

“I’m pleased that this settlement will hold Monsanto accountable for producing and disposing of a dangerous toxic chemical that continues to impact Illinois’ natural resources,

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