Dec. 8, 2009
DuPont Sued for Toxic Pollution of Ohio River
Little Hocking Water Association Asserts Teflon Chemicals Harmful for 2,000 Years
By Tony Rutherford
Huntingtonnews.net Reporter
Huntington, WV (HNN) – A water association that serves portions of Athens and Washington Counties in Ohio has filed a federal lawsuit alleging that DuPont’s Washington Works “continues to improperly handle, treat, store, dispose of and/or discharge pollutants, including hazardous and solid wastes … in a manner that … threatens to contaminate Little Hocking’s water distribution system… through [continued] disposal and release [of] abnormally dangerous or ultrahazardous” waste.
The nonprofit water company filed the 52 page complaint November 27 in Columbus. Among the releases are PFC’s (synthetic carbon chain compounds containing florine) which have been vented into the air, discharged into the Ohio River, and disposed at landfills and anaerobic digestion ponds.
Some of the allegations state that Little Hocking has had to administer a Bottled Water program, operate and maintain a Carbon Plant to remove PFOA (perfluorooctanoic acid) from its water,
Since DuPont has “refused to remediate the Contamination, Little Hocking has been forced and will be forced to spend significant financial resources to limit the public’s exposure, remediate the contaminated Wellfields [it owns] and Distribution system, and locate alternative sources of drinking water for the public.”
This is not the first complaint against the Washington Works plant, which stands in Wood County, WV. A 2003 West Virginia class action suit against DuPont found that the company “continues to actively and intentionally release PFOA from the Washington Works plant into the air and water.” The company in legal documents stated “there is no way to prevent PFOA emission from getting into the class members’ drinking water.”
Arising out of that litigation, DuPont sampled twelve members of the general population living near the plant. According to the letter from attorney Robert Bilott sent to the US EPA, all twelve individuals were exposed to PFOA through drinking water by the Lubeck Public Service District.
http://www.epa.gov/compliance/resources/complaints/civil/mm/dupont2-pfoa-complaint.pdf
DuPont, however, did not submit the samples voluntarily to the EPA triggering enforcement action. The results showed levels of PFOA in these individuals ranging from 15.7 ppb to 128 ppb. The average background level of PFOA in the US is approximately 5 ppb. At that time Little Hocking asked to be included in the sampling which showed 7.69 ppb PFOA in the Wellfields.
(Note: Before 2003 only one commercial US lab had “analytical capability to do specific testing to detect PFC’s. The terms of the lab’s contact with DuPont BARRED it from testing for PFCs for any other entity without DuPont’s consent.)
Two years prior to the class action DuPont purchased property of Lubeck Public Service District located near the Washington Works Plant, but did NOT offer to purchase Little Hocking’s Wellfields or provide an alternate water supply.
West Virginia University scientists in May 2008 issued preliminary findings that higher levels of PFOA in people “correlate with lower levels of a protein that helps the body fight bacteria, viruses and other pathogens; (2) higher PFOA levels in WV and Ohio residents are associated with higher levels of two enzymes that can indicate liver damage, and (3) elevated PFOA levels in children are associated with high cholesterol levels and that thyroid function was clearly affected in PFOA-exposed people.
The complaint states that “one DuPont study links PFOA with high cholesterol levels in humans.”
A March 2009 US EPA Safe Drinking Water Act Consent Order with DuPont concluded that PFOA may “present an imminent and substantial endangerment to human health at concentrations above 0.40 ppb in drinking water.” Yet, “individuals whose residential water is supplied by Little Hocking have had their blood tested for PFOA and other PFC’s have some of the HIGHEST non-worker PFOA blood levels of any reported in the U.S. or Canada – ranging from 112 ppb to, at least , 1950 ppb. “
You can download the complaint (50 pages) by clicking HERE. If you have an account with the U.S. Court system, the location is: https://ecf.ohsd.uscourts.gov/doc1/14312824085
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DuPont Sued for Toxic Pollution of Ohio River
Little Hocking Water Association Asserts Teflon Chemicals Harmful for 2,000 Years
By Tony Rutherford
Huntingtonnews.net Reporter
Huntington, WV (HNN) – A water association that serves portions of Athens and Washington Counties in Ohio has filed a federal lawsuit alleging that DuPont’s Washington Works “continues to improperly handle, treat, store, dispose of and/or discharge pollutants, including hazardous and solid wastes … in a manner that … threatens to contaminate Little Hocking’s water distribution system… through [continued] disposal and release [of] abnormally dangerous or ultrahazardous” waste.
The nonprofit water company filed the 52 page complaint November 27 in Columbus. Among the releases are PFC’s (synthetic carbon chain compounds containing florine) which have been vented into the air, discharged into the Ohio River, and disposed at landfills and anaerobic digestion ponds.
Some of the allegations state that Little Hocking has had to administer a Bottled Water program, operate and maintain a Carbon Plant to remove PFOA (perfluorooctanoic acid) from its water,
Since DuPont has “refused to remediate the Contamination, Little Hocking has been forced and will be forced to spend significant financial resources to limit the public’s exposure, remediate the contaminated Wellfields [it owns] and Distribution system, and locate alternative sources of drinking water for the public.”
This is not the first complaint against the Washington Works plant, which stands in Wood County, WV. A 2003 West Virginia class action suit against DuPont found that the company “continues to actively and intentionally release PFOA from the Washington Works plant into the air and water.” The company in legal documents stated “there is no way to prevent PFOA emission from getting into the class members’ drinking water.”
Arising out of that litigation, DuPont sampled twelve members of the general population living near the plant. According to the letter from attorney Robert Bilott sent to the US EPA, all twelve individuals were exposed to PFOA through drinking water by the Lubeck Public Service District.
http://www.epa.gov/compliance/resources/complaints/civil/mm/dupont2-pfoa-complaint.pdf
DuPont, however, did not submit the samples voluntarily to the EPA triggering enforcement action. The results showed levels of PFOA in these individuals ranging from 15.7 ppb to 128 ppb. The average background level of PFOA in the US is approximately 5 ppb. At that time Little Hocking asked to be included in the sampling which showed 7.69 ppb PFOA in the Wellfields.
(Note: Before 2003 only one commercial US lab had “analytical capability to do specific testing to detect PFC’s. The terms of the lab’s contact with DuPont BARRED it from testing for PFCs for any other entity without DuPont’s consent.)
Two years prior to the class action DuPont purchased property of Lubeck Public Service District located near the Washington Works Plant, but did NOT offer to purchase Little Hocking’s Wellfields or provide an alternate water supply.
West Virginia University scientists in May 2008 issued preliminary findings that higher levels of PFOA in people “correlate with lower levels of a protein that helps the body fight bacteria, viruses and other pathogens; (2) higher PFOA levels in WV and Ohio residents are associated with higher levels of two enzymes that can indicate liver damage, and (3) elevated PFOA levels in children are associated with high cholesterol levels and that thyroid function was clearly affected in PFOA-exposed people.
The complaint states that “one DuPont study links PFOA with high cholesterol levels in humans.”
A March 2009 US EPA Safe Drinking Water Act Consent Order with DuPont concluded that PFOA may “present an imminent and substantial endangerment to human health at concentrations above 0.40 ppb in drinking water.” Yet, “individuals whose residential water is supplied by Little Hocking have had their blood tested for PFOA and other PFC’s have some of the HIGHEST non-worker PFOA blood levels of any reported in the U.S. or Canada – ranging from 112 ppb to, at least , 1950 ppb. “
You can download the complaint (50 pages) by clicking HERE. If you have an account with the U.S. Court system, the location is: https://ecf.ohsd.uscourts.gov/doc1/14312824085
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