An environmental group wants to make public all of the court documents related to a settlement involving Syngenta and water contamination from one of its herbicides.
The Environmental Law and Policy Center says some of the documents have been unsealed, but some have not.
Syngenta claims the remaining documents contain “confidential business information.”
The ELPC says they might include important information about the environmental effects of the herbicide called atrazine.
Even if they don’t, ELPC attorney Jennifer Cassel says it’s worth fighting to unseal them.
"It is really important that we be present to vindicate this presumption of public access so that in future cases you know to the extent that there are more documents of important to the public, that the public has access to those documents," Cassel said.
The ELPC will file its opening brief in early May.
Syngenta recently paid more than 100-million dollars to towns across the Midwest, including in Iowa, Missouri and Illinois.
That included a 100 thousand dollar payment to Carthage. City Attorney, Stanley Tucker said Carthage will use the money to help ease the costs of program that paid farmers around the community not to use the herbicide.
Warsaw, Hamilton, Nauvoo, La Harpe, Blandinsville, Macomb, Vermont, and Canton also received money from the suit.
