The Port of Portland is suing agriculture giant Monsanto Corp. for widespread PCB contamination on port property, the Port announced Thursday.

The lawsuit doesn’t state a dollar amount, but wants the company to pay for its portion of the clean up in the Columbia and Willamette rivers.

“The damages for the Port of Portland range anywhere between tens of millions, if not hundreds of millions of dollars in total PCB clean-up costs,” said John Fiske, a California-based attorney representing the Port of Portland.

PCB — polychlorinated biphenyls — can cause cancer in people and affect their immune systems, according to the lawsuit. The chemicals don’t break down in nature and affect birds and fish.

“PCBs are toxic and dangerous to human health and need to be cleaned up,” said Curtis Robinhold, the Port of Portland’s deputy executive director.

Monsanto said the lawsuit lacks merit and should be dismissed.

“The Port’s case targets a product manufacturer for selling four to eight decades ago a lawful and useful chemical that was used by the U.S. government, the state of Oregon and local cities, and incorporated by industries into many products to make them safer,” Scott Partridge, vice president of global strategy at Monsanto, said in a statement Thursday.

The pollutant is in wire coating, caulk and sealants used at the Port, the Port’s lawsuit against Monsanto states. The chemicals end up in the rivers that triangulate Portland through storm water runoff.

“Portland Waters are contaminated with PCBs, which have been detected in water, sediment, fish and wildlife,” the suit states.