Chemical giant Dupont recently settled a federal lawsuit with The Little Hocking Water Association of southeast Ohio over allegations the company contaminated drinking water with C8. Located just across front Dupont’s Washington Works plant in West Virginia, the aquifers overseen by The Little Hocking Water Association supply drinking water to over 12,000 residents across Athens and Hocking county.
The lawsuit began in 2009 when the water district filed suit against Dupont Chemical, alleging the company’s C8 chemical used to make teflon was seeping into underground drinking water. The lawsuit filed on behalf of area residents demanded Dupont prove the water to be clean and provide alternative sources of potable water.
While the terms of the settlement will remain confidential, speculators may surmise the world’s largest chemical company agreed to a substantial payout given the $1.6 million judgement against them in October after jurors found Dupont and its C8 chemical liable for causing an Ohio woman’s kidney cancer. Dupont faces approximately 3,500 other civil lawsuit by plaintiffs alleging their serious medical conditions were caused by negligent exposure to C8.
Another C8 poisoning trial is slated for March 2016. The West Virginia man in this case alleges C8 also caused his ulcerative colitis. The trial will take place in federal court in Columbus, Ohio.
Although The Cochran Firm, D.C. did not represent any of the parties in The Little Hocking Water association lawsuit against Dupont Chemical, our law firm did provide assistance to the plaintiff’s legal team in the October, 2015 $1.6 million verdict. Attorneys with The Cochran Firm’s national offices have been involved in the struggle to force Dupont to take accountability since regulators first discovered the chemical company was dumping the cancer causing chemical into the Ohio river.
The Cochran Firm, D.C. will continue to monitor the situation surrounding Dupont’s C8 contamination lawsuits and provide timely updates as they arrive.