Filmont Landfill Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Judge Sides With Union Carbide On Inspection, Testing Of Landfill

As part of its ongoing lawsuit against Union Carbide, the Courtland Company asked U.S. District Judge John T. Copenhaver Jr. to collect soil samples at UCC’s Filmont Landfill in South Charleston.

A federal judge has denied a company’s request to inspect and test property owned by Union Carbide.

As part of its ongoing lawsuit against Union Carbide, the Courtland Company asked U.S. District Judge John T. Copenhaver Jr. to collect soil samples at UCC’s Filmont Landfill in South Charleston.

This week, Copenhaver denied the request, siding with UCC. UCC had argued that Courtland would have access to the data it has collected as part of its voluntary remediation of the site, under the supervision of the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection.

The trial is now in its penalty phase. In September, Copenhaver ruled that UCC violated the federal Clean Water Act by not having permits for stormwater discharge and that the landfill was an illegal open dump. UCC could face fines of $64,618 per day per violation.

The parties participated in an 18-day bench trial last year in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia, where Copenhaver is a senior judge.

Union Carbide, now part of Dow chemical, operated the Filmont landfill from the 1950s to the 1980s. The property borders Davis Creek, a tributary of the Kanawha River, and Courtland’s property in South Charleston.

Both companies may have to pay remediation costs, but only UCC faces potential civil penalties.

The case has been active since 2018. The general public had no knowledge of the Filmont Landfill until Copenhaver unsealed documents the following year that revealed its existence.

According to testimony in the trial, a handful of local officials and the state DEP were previously aware the landfill existed and was possibly contaminating soil and water in the area.

The next phase of the trial could take place early next year.

Next Phase In Federal Trial Will Determine Penalties For Union Carbide

The maximum penalty Union Carbide would pay for violating the Clean Water Act at a landfill it owns in South Charleston: $64,618 per violation per day.

A five year federal court case involving Union Carbide is moving into the next phase, and the company could have to pay pay a steep civil penalty.

The maximum penalty Union Carbide would pay for violating the Clean Water Act at a landfill it owns in South Charleston: $64,618 per violation per day.

In late September, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia ruled that the company has been in violation of the federal law since 2015. A landfill that discharges stormwater into navigable U.S. waterways must seek a permit under the Clean Water Act.

Union Carbide sought no such permit for the Filmont Landfill. The site is adjacent to Davis Creek, a tributary of the Kanawha River.

Union Carbide operated the landfill for about 30 years, but its existence wasn’t widely known until a 2018 lawsuit in federal court in Charleston.

The court also determined the Filmont Landfill was an illegal open dump under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. Union Carbide and Courtland Co., the plaintiff in the case, may both have to pay costs related to the cleanup of the site. Courtland’s South Charleston property is adjacent to Union Carbide’s.

The court will ultimately determine what penalty Union Carbide will pay, but added together, one violation over eight years could cost more than $188 million.

Union Carbide and Courtland will bring in expert witnesses to determine how many of those days Union Carbide was in violation.

Courtland has requested that the penalty phase of the trial take place in April 2024. The trial will determine other costs, including legal fees.

Union Carbide is a subsidiary of Dow Chemical.

Courtland Calls Union Carbide Ruling A ‘David Versus Goliath Victory’

A company that took Union Carbide to court over a hazardous waste dump celebrated a favorable ruling from a federal judge.

Courtland Company, which sued Union Carbide beginning in 2018, called the outcome a “David versus Goliath victory.”

Late last week, U.S. District Judge John T. Copenhaver Jr., in a 400-page decision, found that Union Carbide had violated federal law by creating an illegal open dump in South Charleston.

In testimony last year in Charleston, Courtland’s lawyers showed evidence that Union Carbide had dumped toxic substances in the landfill over a 30-year period and had not sought any permits from the state or federal government.

Testing revealed the presence of contaminants in Davis Creek, a tributary of the Kanawha River.

If Copenhaver’s ruling stands, Union Carbide will pay for the cleanup of soil and water contamination and could face civil penalties under the Clean Water Act.

In a statement, Union Carbide, a subsidiary of Dow Chemical, noted that Copenhaver dismissed two of four pending lawsuits against it.

The company added that it is working with the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection to clean up the Filmont Landfill under the department’s Voluntary Remediation Program. That effort began before last year’s trial and continues today, the company said.

Federal Judge Rules Against Union Carbide In South Charleston Landfill Case

A federal judge in Charleston has ruled against Union Carbide, ordering the company to pay for the cleanup of a hazardous materials site in South Charleston.

This story has been clarified to reflect that the penalty phase of the trial will take place at a later date.

A federal judge in Charleston has ruled against Union Carbide, finding the company in violation of federal law over a hazardous materials site in South Charleston.

Judge John T. Copenhaver Jr., of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia, in a 400-page ruling dated Sept. 28, said Union Carbide is responsible for the cleanup of the Filmont site, where numerous hazardous substances were dumped from the 1950s to the 1980s, under the federal Superfund law, or CERCLA.

Copenhaver ruled the Filmont site violated the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, creating an illegal “open dump.” Union Carbide also violated the federal Clean Water Act, which required the company to seek a permit from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for stormwater runoff from an adjacent railyard it owns.

Copenhaver’s ruling mostly favors the Courtland Company, which had first sued Union Carbide in 2018 over contamination of its property from the Union Carbide landfill and railyard.

Copenhaver dismissed two of the pending lawsuits against Union Carbide. And he also ruled that Courtland is responsible for cleaning up contamination on its South Charleston property that was not caused by Union Carbide.

Both properties are adjacent to Davis Creek, a tributary of the Kanawha River. The Filmont landfill is located in the city of South Charleston, down the hill from the Union Carbide Tech Center, which is also on the Superfund list, and across Davis Creek from where the West Virginia Division of Highways is performing major construction on the Jefferson Road interchange.

The penalty phase of the trial will take place at a later date.

The case was the subject of an 18-day trial in Charleston last year.

Union Carbide had argued that it was not required to remediate the site under CERCLA, the site was not an “open dump” and it was not required to seek a permit from the EPA.

Copenhaver, 98, is one of the last active federal judges nominated by President Gerald Ford. Copenhaver was confirmed to the federal bench in 1975.

Union Carbide is a subsidiary of Dow Chemical.

View previous reporting on this issue from West Virginia Public Broadcasting here.

Attorneys Rest Case In Federal Trial Over Union Carbide Landfill

The U.S. District Court in Charleston heard closing arguments Monday in the trial, which began nearly a month ago.

After weeks of testimony, attorneys on both sides of a federal trial involving a Union Carbide landfill in South Charleston have rested their case.

The U.S. District Court in Charleston heard closing arguments Monday in the trial, which began nearly a month ago.

Courtland Co. argued that Union Carbide violated federal law by not applying for, nor receiving the required permit for the Filmont landfill. It says Carbide contaminated its property and Davis Creek with hazardous industrial wastes.

An expert witness, Marshall University Professor Scott Simonton, testified that 17,000 gallons a day of “a soup of nasty contaminants” was leaking from the landfill.

The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection issued a notice of violation to Union Carbide in October 2020 for seepages from the site Simonton documented.

Union Carbide alleged contamination from construction debris on Courtland’s property and claimed some of the contaminants in Davis Creek came from abandoned coal mines upstream.

The company’s attorneys tried to cast doubt on Simonton’s testimony.

Union Carbide, a subsidiary of Dow Chemical, said it complied with state and federal laws that applied to the landfill. It says it is voluntarily remediating the site.

Cortland has filed four lawsuits since 2018 and seeks civil penalties. U.S. District Judge John Copenhaver will issue a ruling.

‘The Whole Thing Is Junk:’ Expert Rips Union Carbide Landfill Data

Union Carbide performed risk assessments for ecological and human health on the Filmont industrial landfill in South Charleston in 2014 and 2015. Both assessments concluded there was no need to take further action.

Scott Simonton, a professor of industrial and systems engineering at Marshall University, offered a different view to the U.S. District Court in Charleston Tuesday.

“The whole thing is junk,” he testified on behalf of Courtland Co., which owns property adjacent to the Union Carbide site and is suing the company.

Simonton said Union Carbide had insufficient data to correctly perform the risk assessments.

The company has no idea how extensive the contamination is, Simonton added, because it never conducted a full investigation of the site.

“They do not, absolutely do not understand the full nature and extent of the contamination from this site,” Simonton testified Tuesday.

Court filings and testimony show Union Carbide has been monitoring the site since at least 2005 and told state and local officials about it. The landfill was not revealed to the public until 2019.

On Monday, Simonton testified that the site contained a “soup of nasty contaminants.”

The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection issued Union Carbide a notice of violation in late 2020 for wastewater discharge from the Filmont site.

In early 2021, the company applied for the DEP’s Voluntary Remediation Program for the site.

The trial began earlier this month. Courtland has sued Union Carbide four times since 2018, alleging contamination of its property from the Filmont landfill.