The Berrien County Board of Commissioners is considering how to use $3.5 million the county has received as a result of a settlement with Monsanto over PCB runoff into waterways in California. Berrien County Drain Commissioner Christopher Quattrin tells us because the county belongs to the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System, it qualified to get part of an overall $540 million settlement. He says the money should be used to set up a fund for discharge cleanup.
“Our county has decided to use it for things that were not the intent of the settlement,” Quattrin said. “It was intended to help mitigate and clean up discharges in our waterways.”
Quattrin says the county has had to clean up discharges into water systems, and that’s how the $3.5 million should be used. However, Berrien County Board of Commissioners Chair Mac Elliott tells us the settlement funds are unrestricted, meaning the county could use them for whatever purpose the commissioners decide. He says the decision is not up to Quattrin.
“If he wants to be in charge, he needs to get elected to the county board of commissioners, and then he can vote,” Elliott said. “Otherwise, we’re happy to have his suggestions, but he should stay in his lane. Things work better when people do that.”
Elliott says the board will determine an appropriate use for the $3.5 million. That’s likely to be when commissioners discuss the budget in the next few months. In the meantime, the money is sitting in an interest-bearing account.
