DuPont Story Archives - Page 2 of 5 - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

EPA Pledges to Limit Public Exposure to Chemicals like C8

EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt said today the agency is prepared to take action to limit exposure of widely-used toxic chemicals used to make non-stick items.

PFAS is a category of man-made chemicals that includes PFOA, PFOS, C8, GenX, and many other chemicals with stain resistant, non-stick and waterproof properties. Several communities across the Ohio Valley have detected PFAS chemicals in drinking water and a few have significant contamination.

Speaking at a a two-day summit on PFAS contamination in Washington, D.C., Pruitt said EPA has a four-part plan to address water contamination from a suite of toxic fluorinated chemicals, known as PFAS.

EPA’s priority is to evaluate if a Maximum Contaminant Level, or MCL, is needed.

“It’s something that has been talked about for a number of years,” Pruitt told a crowd of about 200 people, which included representatives from 38 states and 20 federal agencies. “The process needs to begin.”

The MCL would set a legal limit on the amount of the substance allowed in public water systems. Currently, EPA has issued a health advisory for C8. It says water contaminated with more than 70 parts-per-trillion is unsafe the drink, but the advisory is non-enforceable.

Ohio EPA director Craig Butler, told summit participants in the absence of legally-enforceable federal guidance on PFAS contamination, states have taken different approaches. Many states are using EPA’s health advisory recommendations as the bar to take action, and a few are using more protective exposure levels than EPA’s.

“The resulting variation in PFOA/PFOS standards across the state creates a potential for confusion and complicates efforts to communicate health risk,” he said.

He encouraged the agency to discuss the merits of further regulation in open and transparent ways. He added this issue is important for many communities around the country including in Ohio and West Virginia. Some municipalities in those states have been dealing with C8 contamination for decades.

C8, a chemical similar to PFOA, was released from Dupont’s Washington Works plant in Parkersburg. DuPont dumped over 7,000 tons of C8 sludge in a nearby landfill where it leached out. The chemical polluted streams and exposure killed nearby livestock in the late 1990s.

At very low levels of exposure, PFAS chemicals have been linked to thyroid disease, immune disorders and kidney and testicular cancers.

Pruitt said the agency will also release groundwater cleanup recommendations this fall. EPA will consider declaring PFOS and PFOA a hazardous substance and will establish toxicity values for two other toxic fluorinated chemicals.

Cleanup recommendations may be helpful in cases such as 2016 chemical contamination in Martinsburg by the Air National Guard. PFOA and PFOS found in firefighting foam used by the National Guard allegedly contaminated the city’s drinking water plant. The city paid $4.5 million to install water treatment filters. This week, the City of Martinsburg sued the National Guard for damages to recoup those costs.

Pruitt told summit participants that state participation is crucial.

“Concerned citizens, local governments, states across the country are very focused upon acting,” he said. “We have people from community groups here as well that I know are very concerned about this. We want to hear from all of you as we take the next steps.”

Concerns surfaced about who was invited to the summit. Politico reported researchers who are currently and have in the past conducted studies of the health impacts associated with C8 exposure near the Washington Work’s plant were not invited. Furthermore, reporters from the Associated Press, CNN and E&E News were barred from attending the morning sessions of the summit. They were later allowed to enter.

EPA said it will hold a series of listening sessions across the country this summer.

This story was updated on 05/23/18 to clarify the chemical makeup of C8 and substances that the EPA is considering listing as hazardous.

New Industrial Fire Lawsuit Targets Chemical Manufacturer

A new lawsuit over the industrial fire that burned for a week in West Virginia targets the chemical manufacturer who sold products stored in the building.

The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports the case filed Tuesday says DuPont Co. “breached its duty of care” by selling hazardous, flammable materials to the warehouse owned by owned by Intercontinental Export Import Inc., or IEI Plastics, and didn’t ensure materials sold were safely stored and handled.

The blaze at the 420,000-square-foot (39,000-square-meter) property in Parkersburg began Oct. 21 and was extinguished Oct. 29. The lawsuit says area residents were exposed to hazardous materials as a result of the fire and chemical explosion.

DuPont declined to comment to the newspaper, but a spokesman previously said the company wasn’t directly affiliated with the warehouse.

Critics: DuPont Spend More on Legal Fees Than Chemical Tests

Critics say DuPont has spent too little on testing Ohio and West Virginia residents for contamination from a chemical used to make Teflon, while paying millions to a lawyer overseeing the testing program.

The Columbus Dispatch reports DuPont spent about $860,000 on testing over a 2 ½-year period for contamination from the chemical used to make Teflon at its Washington Works plant, along the Ohio River.

A court filing this month revealed the lawyer who oversees the testing program was paid nearly $15 million.

Cincinnati attorney Robert Bilott filed a class-action lawsuit against DuPont alleging the company released C8-tainted water into the Ohio River. The company settled in 2004 and agreed to pay 70,000 residents to have their blood tested for C8.

A science panel reported in 2012 a probable link between C8 and six diseases including kidney and testicular cancer, thyroid disease and pregnancy-induced high blood pressure.

Out of the 99,000 “potential participants” for the blood testing program, 6,678 people have registered. Of those accepted for monitoring, about 2,000 have seen a doctor.

Bilott says the company has more than enough funds to cover the program’s cost.

Chemours, a DuPont associated company, now produces Teflon at Washington Works. The chemical C8 was replaced by a new compound called GenX in 2012.

DuPont Offers $670M Settlement For "Teflon" Chemical Contamination Of Water

The chemical giant DuPont made an offer Monday to pay more than half-a-billion dollars to settle water contamination lawsuits pending in federal court.

3,550 plaintiffs from the mid-Ohio Valley filed suit claiming contaminated drinking water led to diseases linked to chemical exposure. The chemical they were exposed to is known as C-8, or PFOA, and is used in Teflon and other products. More than a decade ago residents near the company’s Washington works plant in Wood County, West Virginia, learned that their water was contaminated with C-8, and had been for years.

Now DuPont and a spin-off company, Chemours, have agreed to pay a total of $670.7 million to settle the suits.

Rob Bilott, one of the lead lawyers for the plaintiffs, is pleased with the settlement offer.

“This is a tremendous positive step toward resolving the litigation in a way that provides compensation for our injured clients without the need for additional, lengthy, and expensive trials,” Bilott said. “We look forward to working with DuPont to finalize this settlement and get these injured class members paid as quickly as possible.”

The companies also have agreed to pay up to an additional $50 million a year for the next five years for any additional claims that might arise.

“This agreement provides a sound resolution for area residents, Chemours, and the public,” said David Shelton, Senior Vice-President, General Counsel & Corporate Secretary for Chemours. “It settles all indemnification obligations between Chemours and DuPont for all of the approximately 3,500 claims in the Ohio multi-district litigation and allows us to move forward with a renewed focus on our customers, product innovation and application development.”

Both companies continue to deny any wrongdoing.

DuPont phased out U.S. production of C-8 several years ago. Now it’s made in China. Although it’s still a widely used compound found in non-stick cookware, stain-resistant fabrics, and food wrappers here in the U.S.

The Chemours facility, formerly the Dupont company’s site, in Washington, West Virginia.

A Chemical Legacy

For more than half a century along the Ohio River, DuPont provided jobs for thousands of people. One chemical they produced is PFOA, commonly known as C-8. It was a remarkably useful compound, used in “Teflon” non-stick cookware, stain-resistant fabrics, and even in some food wrappers.

Over time, researchers have found that C-8 is also toxic. DuPont and other companies phased out U.S. production a few years ago. Now it’s made in China.

Explore your region’s water supply now. >>

The contamination in this region eventually lead to a class action lawsuit that resulted in a broad medical study of affected residents beginning in 2005. Over 30,000 community members were involved. The study linked C-8 to multiple health problems from cancer to reduced immune function. A series of additional health studies followed, and further proved that chemical compounds like C-8 are dangerous, even in small doses.

The medical testing of residents paved the way for lawsuits and the settlement agreement announced this week. But the studies also raised questions about what the chemical might do to people who are ingesting the chemical in very tiny amounts in drinking water.

Far-Reaching Concerns

Drinking water distribution center in Vienna, West Virginia.

Because the chemical can persist in water, communities along the Ohio River — and around the U.S. — are still grappling with the environmental fallout of contamination from C-8 and similar chemicals. The ReSource generated a map using water testing data available from the U.S. EPA. It shows 12 water systems in 10 counties in Ohio, Kentucky, and West Virginia where these chemicals were detected in the water.

The Environmental Protection Agency issued a health advisory in 2016 for C-8 levels in drinking water, and many of the water systems that detected C-8 and related chemicals found them at levels lower than the EPA advisory. EPA officials say the C-8 advisory levels were calculated to protect fetuses during pregnancy and breastfed infants, and was based on “the best available peer-reviewed studies.”

However, a growing body of science indicates that the EPA advisory level is not sufficiently protective of human health, and many researchers recommend far more restrictive thresholds for exposure.

Dr. Philippe Grandjean of Harvard’s School of Public Health, an expert on health effects of perfluorinated chemicals like C-8, says the EPA’s advisory doesn’t go far enough. One of his latest studies looks at long term effects of these chemicals on the immune systems of exposed children.

Last year a coalition of scientists from around the world called for limits on C-8 production altogether. Health officials in New Jersey are suggesting that C-8 levels should be five times lower than what EPA advises (at about 14 parts per trillion). Grandjean’s work and other scientific studies have recommended an acceptable level of 1 part per trillion, which is what the European Union recommends for surface water.

Many of the water systems that detected PFOA or similar chemicals found levels that fall somewhere in a range below EPA’s health advisory but well above what scientists such as Grandjean have recommended. These communities include: Louisville and part of Pendleton County, in Kentucky; Gallia County, Ohio; and Parkersburg, West Virginia.

Jury Awards $10.5M in Punitive Damages Against DuPont

A federal court in Ohio delivered a verdict this week awarding $10.5 million in punitive damages to a man with testicular cancer who, for years, was…

A federal court in Ohio delivered a verdict this week awarding $10.5 million in punitive damages to a man with testicular cancer who, for years, was exposed through drinking water to the toxic chemicals DuPont used to make Teflon.

Altogether, Kenneth Vigneron Sr. was awarded $12.5 million in punitive and compensatory damages. The Ohio man says he got testicular cancer because he was exposed to the chemical known as C8 (or PFOA) through public water supplies in Belpre and Little Hocking – both towns are near the chemical company DuPont’s Washington Works facility in West Virginia.

Vigneron’s is the latest in a handful of cases that have already gone to trial against DuPont. Other verdicts also found the chemical company guilty of negligence and acting maliciously by knowingly contaminating water supplies. DuPont’s lawyers maintain that jurors have been misled about the risks of C8 exposure.

About 3,500 similar lawsuits are pending against the company.

A spin-off company, Chemours, which inherited many legacy responsibilities from DuPont, issued a statement saying DuPont will appeal the verdict, and that the majority of the thousands of pending lawsuits are residents who allege they have high cholesterol and thyroid disease – not cancer. The statement went on to say that Chemours is legally shielded from liability, should DuPont try to shift responsibility to the smaller company for final judgments.

Cynthia Salitsky, Chemours Spokesperson, released the following statement:

“We expect DuPont to appeal the verdict, subject to post-trial motions, to address important, unresolved issues that affect the broader, ongoing multi-district litigation (MDL). Of the 3500 claims in the MDL, the majority allege high cholesterol and thyroid disease, not cancer diagnoses. Each of these claims will be evaluated on an individual basis due to the unique facts present in every case. Litigation of this kind typically takes place over many years, and interim results do not predict the ultimate outcome. As previously disclosed, DuPont is the named defendant in each of the cases and is liable for any judgment. In the event DuPont claims it is entitled to indemnification from Chemours as to some or all of the judgment, Chemours retains its defenses to such claims.”

Latest Suit Against DuPont Linking C8 to Cancer Goes to Jury

An Ohio man who says he got testicular cancer because of a chemical used to make Teflon is the latest plaintiff to have his case against DuPont Co.…

An Ohio man who says he got testicular cancer because of a chemical used to make Teflon is the latest plaintiff to have his case against DuPont Co. considered by a jury in federal court.

The Columbus Dispatch reports jurors in Columbus are deliberating after a four-week trial in the case of a Washington County resident, Kenneth Vigneron Sr. It’s among 3,000 lawsuits against DuPont by Ohio and West Virginia residents.

At issue is a chemical known as C8 that was emitted by a plant near Parkersburg, West Virginia. Vigneron’s attorney argued DuPont knew the chemical could cause cancer.

DuPont’s lawyers say Vigneron’s attorneys haven’t proved C8 causes cancer and that the company spent significant money and time creating a system to capture and recycle C8, succeeding in 2002.