C8 Water Contamination Prompts Multiple Lawsuits, Notes Waxahachie Personal Injury Lawyer
Jan 31, 2013
Waxahachie, TX (Law Firm Newswire) January 30, 2013 – Contaminated water in West Virginia has prompted a class action lawsuit.
A class action lawsuit has been filed against DuPont by area residents concerning the contamination of their water supply. The water has been contaminated with C8, a manufacturing chemical also known as perfluorooctanoic acid or PFOA. C8 has been used since the 1950s at DuPont Washington Works in West Virginia in the production of Teflon and other consumer-used substances.
“Tests of the local water in West Virginia near the plant and in neighboring areas in Ohio in 2002 showed levels of C8 in aquifers and wells, and in public water supplies in West Virginia,” stated John Hale, Waxahachie personal injury attorney.
Studies of C8 by the C8 Science Panel have found correlations between exposure to C8 and thyroid disease, ulcerated colitis, kidney cancer, testicular cancer, high cholesterol and pregnancy-induced hypertension. The three-member panel was put into place in 2005 as part of a class-action settlement of a lawsuit against DuPont to assess what effect C8 has on human health. An independent medical panel is now in place to develop how to oversee health concerns for the individuals who have already filed claims.
More than two dozen separate personal injury lawsuits have been filed against DuPont by Ohio Valley residents, and more are expected. A class action settlement agreement bars DuPont from disputing that C8 exposure can cause any of the specific diseases discovered by the C8 Science Panel. The class action settlement agreement does not base the criteria for filing on an individuals’ current residence, which allows anyone who worked or lived within one or more of the districts with contaminated water for a year or more prior to December 3, 2004 to file.
The area individuals who have one or more of the diseases linked to C8 are not restricted to the class action lawsuit and are able to proceed with their personal injury claims against DuPont. The most recently filed cases include individuals with claims of kidney cancer, testicular cancer, thyroid disease, ulcerative colitis and pregnancy-induced hypertension.
The C8 Health Project began testing area residents in 2005 via written questionnaires and multiple blood tests, including testing for levels of C8 in the blood.
John Hale is a Waxahachie personal injury lawyer and Ellis County personal injury lawyer helping injury victims near Dallas, Texas. Learn more at The Hale Law Firm
The Hale Law Firm
100 Executive Court, Suite 3
Waxahachie, TX 75165
Call: 888.425.3911
