TASK DEFINITION: Generate an explanation for the given claim using the provided supporting material from the paragraph. Please consider the following points while generating an output. 1) The claim will always have supporting proof in the paragraph, and the paragraph will have a clear point of view supporting the claim. 2) There can be instances where direct correlation to the claim is not available. Make use of the sentences in the paragraph to provide a corresponding output supporting the claim. 3) The explanation should be at least one and at most twelve sentences long.
PROBLEM: Paragraph: The plan, revealed by Illinois Department of Veterans’ Affairs Director Erica Jeffries at a legislative hearing in Chicago, comes after a pledge by the Republican governor less than two months ago that he would replace antiquated plumbing which could provide harbor for the bacteria that causes the deadly, pneumonia-like malady. Rauner did say at the time a newly constructed facility could be a long-term option. “The cost and the disruption and the construction that would be involved, not to mention the time it would take to do this (plumbing replacement) would just not be worth the effort when you think about building a brand-new building,” Jeffries said Monday. “We do not want to spend years tearing up 70-year-old buildings to put brand-new piping in when we know that might not be a total solution.” Rauner stayed at the home for a week in January to dramatize his efforts to get to the bottom of the outbreak. He has been pummeled by opponents in his re-election bid who say his administration’s response has mishandled the crisis. Jeffries, who did not cite a potential cost, said several of the buildings on the 130-year-old campus in western Illinois would be razed to make way for “state-of-the-art facilities” during the next three to five years. At another point Jeffries indicated that preliminary recommendations from task forces Rauner appointed would be delivered by March 31 with a final version due May 1. Rauner faces voters in a GOP primary election March 20. Rauner spokeswoman Rachel Bold said late Monday that plumbing replacement hasn’t been ruled out and noted that Rauner’s pronouncement in January included suggesting constructing a “brand-new building here that has the latest technology.” The administration installed a $6.5 million water-treatment plant, adopted rigorous plumbing-fixture flushing protocols, installed filters on fixtures, and treated water with heat and chemicals, among other steps, in its effort to stop the problem. After initially appearing in 2015, Legionnaire’s disease returned to the facility in 2016 and 2017. Four more cases were confirmed last month. Monday’s hearing was called after the administration released an August 2016 report from Belleville-based consulting engineer BRiC Partnership suggesting steps to mitigate the problem, including replacing the underground water-distribution system and plumbing inside 15 campus buildings where the most susceptible residents live for $8 million. Jeffries said in December that plumbing replacement could cost $500 million or more; in January, she told lawmakers the price tag was $25 million to $30 million, but didn’t specify the source of that estimate. She has never explained why she used estimates that at a minimum were more than four times higher than the actual number. BRiC’s 2016 report, which cost $20,000, listed about a dozen ideas for a total of $17 million. The administration paid BRiC another $40,000 to update and expand its 2016 report. That update released last month indicated plumbing replacement for the entire campus would be $11 million; expanded options for the other ideas combined would cost no more than $24 million. Jeffries explained Monday that the August 2016 delivery of the BRiC report was just two months after the June completion of a $6.5 million water-treatment facility and wanted to test its effectiveness before taking any more actions. But Public Health officials had confirmed two more cases of Legionnaires’ in late July, just days before BRiC’s arrival on campus. ___ Contact Political Writer John O’Connor at https://twitter.com/apoconnor . His work can be found at https://apnews.com/search/john%20o’connor ___ Sign up for the AP’s weekly newsletter showcasing our best reporting from the Midwest and Texas: http://apne.ws/2u1RMfv Claim: Rauner now plans to raze vet dorms where Legionnaires’ found.

SOLUTION: Gov. Bruce Rauner’s administration announced on Monday that it plans to replace residence halls at the Quincy veterans’ facility which housed victims of a Legionnaires’ disease outbreak responsible for the deaths of 13 people and making dozens more ill since 2015.

PROBLEM: Paragraph: Amid mounting global concern over the public health implications of so-called e-cigarettes, Touraine said they faced the same fate as traditional ones: a ban on smoking in public spaces and sales to minors and a blackout on media advertising. In a country where the pungent waft of Gaulloises and Gitanes once seemed an unassailable part of cafe culture, smokers have long been banished to outdoor terrace seats. The near-odorless electronic alternative - battery-driven devices that allow users inhale odorless nicotine-laced vapor rather than smoke - are gaining ground in no-go zones such as bars, cafes, trains, waiting rooms and offices. A government-commissioned report said this week that around 500,000 people in France had turned to e-cigarettes, which are designed to look like cigarettes although some come in different colors, and recommended a crackdown on public use. Health officials in many countries say the impact of electronic cigarettes on health needs further study. Another worry they cite is that the electronic alternative will increase the general temptation to smoke, including enticing those who have quit to start again, or that smokers may use them alongside rather than instead of regular cigarettes. “This is no ordinary product because it encourages mimicking and could promote taking up smoking,” said Touraine, who announced her plans at a news conference. In the United States, the number of smokers who have tried out e-cigarettes doubled to one in five in 2011 and the number of all adults trying it doubled too, to 6 percent, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In France, a country of 66 million, the government says tobacco smoking kills some 66,000 people a year and another 5,000 are killed through passive exposure to smoke. The expert in charge of the French report advised against an outright ban on e-cigarettes, however, saying they still seemed safer than tar-laden tobacco. Electronic cigarettes, whose invention is widely credited to a Chinese pharmacist a decade ago, usually comprise disposable cartridges of liquid such as propylene glycol that is easily turned to vapor and can contain artificial flavors alongside concentrated liquid nicotine. Claim: France to ban electronic cigarettes in public.

SOLUTION: France will ban electronic cigarette smoking in public places by imposing the same curbs enforced since 2007 to combat tobacco smoking, Health Minister Marisol Touraine said on Friday.

PROBLEM: Paragraph: Bayer had previously disclosed 5,200 such lawsuits against Monsanto, which it acquired in a $63 billion deal completed in June. “The number of plaintiffs in both state and federal litigation is approximately 8,000 as of end-July. These numbers may rise or fall over time but our view is that the number is not indicative of the merits of the plaintiffs’ cases,” Bayer Chief Executive Werner Baumann told analysts in a conference call on Thursday. Bayer shares have lost more than 10 percent since Monsanto was ordered on Aug. 10 to pay $289 million in damages in the first U.S. lawsuit over glyphosate-based weedkillers such as Roundup and Ranger Pro. The legal headache adds to a number of distractions for Bayer, such as falling consumer care product sales and a rebuke on production practices from the U.S. drugs watchdog, as it seeks to strengthen its drug development pipeline and has begun integrating Monsanto into its organisation. “While this is disappointing, it is not surprising. Indeed, in our litigation scenario analysis, we assumed a doubling of cases to 10,400,” said Alistair Campbell, analyst at brokerage Berenberg. Bayer shares were down 1.8 percent at 1600 GMT while the German blue chip index .GDAXI was up 0.2 percent. CEO Baumann reiterated Bayer’s view that the jury’s verdict on Aug. 10 was inconsistent with the science-based conclusions of regulators. Bayer said it will initially petition the judge to reverse the jury’s verdict from Aug. 10, and “if necessary” challenge the ruling with California appellate courts, which will take at least a year. When asked whether Bayer would consider settling cases out of court, he said: “We will vigorously defend this case and all upcoming cases.”  Bayer executives on the call stressed that demand for glyphosate and seeds for crops that tolerate the broad-spectrum herbicide had not been affected by the verdict. “Nothing whatsoever has changed in the regulatory status of the product. There is simply very high demand, and has been for many decades for glyphosate. It is an invaluable tool for growers,” said Liam Condon, the head of Bayer’s newly enlarged Crop Science division. Bayer also said on Thursday that it sees no reason to re-assess the legal risks from Monsanto. Last week Bayer, which is retiring the Monsanto name, launched the integration of Monsanto into its organisation. That is seen as a daunting task even without the litigation, almost two years after it signed the $63 billion deal. Bayer’s second-quarter results, due on Sept. 5, would include provisioning for legal defence costs but no money would at that point be set aside for any possible future damages, finance chief Wolfgang Nickl said. Claim: Bayer's Monsanto faces 8,000 lawsuits on glyphosate.

SOLUTION:
The number of U.S. lawsuits brought against Bayer’s (BAYGn.DE) newly acquired Monsanto has jumped to about 8,000, as the German drugmaker braces for years of legal wrangling over alleged cancer risks of glyphosate-based weedkillers.