NEW YORK (Reuters) - Attorneys representing major U.S. chemical companies defended them against charges on Monday that the companies committed war crimes by supplying the military with Agent Orange during the Vietnam War.
The lawyers asked a U.S. District Court judge in Brooklyn, New York, to dismiss a civil suit that seeks class action status claiming that up to 4 million Vietnamese people suffered from dioxin poisoning due to Agent Orange.
The case is regarded as a pivotal test of the reach of U.S. courts as it considers the power of the U.S. president to authorize use of hazardous materials during war.
More than 30 companies are named in the lawsuit, among them Dow Chemical Co. (DOW.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and Monsanto Co. (MON.N: Quote, Profile, Research) .
If the lawsuit were successful, billions of dollars could be awarded toward an environmental cleanup and in compensation to the Vietnamese people.
Judge Jack Weinstein is expected to issue a written decision in the next few weeks.
The defoliant Agent Orange was dumped by U.S. warplanes on Vietnamese forests between 1962 and 1971 to destroy Vietnamese sources of food and cover.
The lawyers asked a U.S. District Court judge in Brooklyn, New York, to dismiss a civil suit that seeks class action status claiming that up to 4 million Vietnamese people suffered from dioxin poisoning due to Agent Orange.
The case is regarded as a pivotal test of the reach of U.S. courts as it considers the power of the U.S. president to authorize use of hazardous materials during war.
More than 30 companies are named in the lawsuit, among them Dow Chemical Co. (DOW.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and Monsanto Co. (MON.N: Quote, Profile, Research) .
If the lawsuit were successful, billions of dollars could be awarded toward an environmental cleanup and in compensation to the Vietnamese people.
Judge Jack Weinstein is expected to issue a written decision in the next few weeks.
The defoliant Agent Orange was dumped by U.S. warplanes on Vietnamese forests between 1962 and 1971 to destroy Vietnamese sources of food and cover.
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