A town just a short drive from Pittsburgh is in the national spotlight because of a chemical that was discovered in their drinking water.
The danger might have never been brought to light if a schoolteacher in West Virginia hadn’t pushed for answers.
Jennifer Tomazic went to Parkersburg to speak with Joe Kiger. He told Channel 11 that he got a bad feeling when he read a letter informing him that C8 had been detected in the water, and it pointed to the local DuPont plant as the source.
[ Basic Information on PFAS from the EPA ]
Kiger relentlessly pursued answers and eventually became the lead plaintiff in a class action lawsuit. Attorney Harry Deitzler was part of that lawsuit.
Deitzler told us, “The chemical was intentionally put into the air and water, and so that was the same as testing it on humans, unfortunately.”
Thousands of lawsuits have been filed against Dupont.
Dupont sent us a statement that reads, in part, “We are, and have always been, committed to upholding the highest standards for the well-being of our employees, our customers and the communities in which we operate, and we will vigorously defend our record of safety, health and environmental stewardship.”
Watch the story above to see how the community is still dealing with the effects of C8 in its water.
Statement from DuPont:
DuPont does not use PFOA at the Washington Works site. For background, the new DuPont does not make or use PFOA. For several decades, historical DuPont along with many other industrial manufacturers purchased PFOA from 3M to use as a processing aid in the production of fluoropolymers. In 2002, DuPont began manufacturing PFOA for its own use. By 2006, DuPont made a commitment to phase out of PFOA and we achieved that in 2015.
The Chemours Company, which now owns the Washington Works site, is responsible for remediation in the area. Chemours is also managing and defending the pending litigation in these matters. As such, I would encourage you to contact Chemours for comment.
While fulfilling our remediation responsibilities continue to be a priority for DuPont, we are, and have always been, committed to upholding the highest standards for the wellbeing of our employees, our customers and the communities in which we operate, and we will vigorously defend our record of safety, health and environmental stewardship.
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