DuPont last week agreed to pay more than $300 million to settle a class action lawsuit filed on behalf of 60,000 residents of Ohio and West Virginia who accuse the company of having contaminated their drinking water with the chemical Perflourooctanoic Acid (PFOA), which is used to manufacture some Teflon products.
The settlement, which is pending approval in Wood County Circuit Court, calls for cash payments and expenditures valued at $85 million, plus attorneys’ fees and expenses of $22.6 million and up to $235 million for a medical monitoring program if an independent panel finds that a probable link exists between exposure to PFOA and any diseases, DuPont said in a statement.
“After two years of discussions, we are pleased to reach an agreement that places our combined priorities where they belong – on the community and not on lengthy and contentious legal proceedings,” said Stacey J. Mobley, DuPont general counsel. “We want to make very clear that settling this lawsuit in no way implies any admission of liability on DuPont’s part.”
In addition, DuPont has agreed to provide six area water districts – Little Hocking, Lubeck, Belpre, Tuppers Plains, Mason County and Pomeroy – a state-of-the-art water treatment system designed to reduce the level of C-8 in the water supply to the lowest practicable levels as specified by the water districts. The company will offer the same technology or its equivalent to residents of those districts whose sole source of drinking water is a private well.
All of the plaintiffs’ other claims for relief, including medical monitoring, injunctive relief, property damage, and all claims for punitive damage related to such claims, will be released upon final court approval of the settlement. DuPont’s obligations for water treatment would cease only if the scientific panel finds no probable link between PFOA exposure and any disease.
(via PR Newswire)
{ 5 comments }
When is there going to be a 3M lawsuit
in Minnesota….PFOA in the water in Washington county.
3M’s business centered around PFOS… completely different chemical and much more worrisome from a toxicity standpoint than PFOA
would like info about how to signup
for dupont’s c8 lawsuit
how do we sign up for an application on the lawsuit with dupont that concerns our water in pomeroy, ohio
I have been exposed to pfoa for 26 years, I am so tired.My whole family has something going on inside our bodies.I always knew there was something in the water.No one would listen.I would rather not have pfoa in our bodies.It is to late.And who cares anyway!
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