HEAVY INDUSTRY

Monsanto’s Dioxin Victory Left Intact: The Illinois Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal involving the nation’s longest jury trial, handing St. Louis-based Monsanto Chemical Co. another victory in a battle over a 1979 chemical spill. The decision lets stand an appeals court ruling that Monsanto does not have to pay $16.2 million in damages for the spill. A jury awarded damages in 1987 to 65 residents of Sturgeon, Mo., after a 3 1/2-year trial. The plaintiffs contended they suffered health problems from the spill, which included a teaspoonful of dioxin.