Judge Keeps Claims Against Chemical Maker in Spill Lawsuit

A month before a class-action lawsuit over a 2014 chemical spill is set to go to trial, a federal judge has declined to throw out allegations that partly blame chemical maker Eastman Chemical for polluting 300,000 people’s drinking water.

The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports that U.S. District Judge John T. Copenhaver Jr. in Charleston also ruled Monday that residents, businesses and workers suing over the January 2014 Elk River spill and the subsequent water crisis cannot pursue claims against American Water Workers Company Inc., the parent of West Virginia American Water, whose customers’ drinking water supply was contaminated in the incident.

The lawsuit says Eastman Chemical didn’t test its manufactured chemical properly or warn about potential health effects.

Jury selection for the trial is scheduled to start Oct. 25.