Lima awarded cash for contamination

LIMA, Ohio (AP) - Officials in a western Ohio city are collecting about $227,000 as part of a class-action lawsuit against the manufacturer of a herbicide that ended up in the municipal water supply.

Lima and other Ohio municipalities are getting the money is a settlement with Swiss-based Syngenta, the largest manufacturer of the weed killer atrazine.

The Lima News reports that Syngenta was ordered to pay a total of $65 million to 1,100 municipalities for the cost of removing the chemical from drinking water. It ended up in the water supply because of farm runoff.

Columbus' $3.1 million portion of the settlement was largest among the plaintiffs.

Officials say residents were never in any danger because levels of atrazine did not approach the limits set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.