Court finds France negligent in Caribbean pesticide case
By DÁNICA COTO
Associated Press
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — A court in Paris found the French government guilty of wrongful negligence involving the former use of a banned pesticide in the French Caribbean islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique but denied compensation to those affected. The long-awaited decision announced Monday was bittersweet for activists and attorneys who accused the French government of failing to protect the health of its people and not doing enough to identify and limit the effects of chlordecone pollution in both islands. Chlordecone is a pesticide known as Kepone that the U.S. banned in 1976 and is blamed for slurred speech and other neurological problems.
