Dupont Chemical C8 contamination,
News from Jan - Jun 2004
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- Environmental Science and Technology is a publication of the American Chemical Society, to which Dupont is a contributor.
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POMEROY -- Region is 'ground zero' for C8 issue: Researcher, Athens Messenger.
PARKERSBURG -- U.S. EPA taking formal action against DuPont, Dave Payne, Sr., Parkersburg News and Sentinel.
MARIETTA -- U.S. EPA planning action against DuPont. "Documents recently made public show DuPont was aware C8 was present in local water systems since the mid-1980s, but failed to notify the EPA or the affected communities. . . 'I think that's something they should have divulged back then instead of trying to address it now,' said Little Hocking Water Association general manager Robert Griffin. 'No one was aware they had found it back in 1984. They didn't inform us until 2002,'" Brad Bauer, Marietta Times.
WASHINGTON, DC --- DuPont defends Teflon ingredient as U.S. EPA signals fight ahead, Associated Press.
DuPont facing EPA action on C-8
WASHINGTON, DC -- "C-8 has contaminated the drinking water supplies of 30,000 people in the Ohio River Valley, according to court records in a class-action lawsuit there. . . The 3M Co., the original manufacturer of C-8, began to phase out the chemical in 2000, citing environmental concerns. The company gave the EPA a series of studies showing that C-8 causes birth defects and cancer in rats. The studies also showed that C-8 was detected in the blood of 98 percent of 598 children tested in 23 states and the District of Columbia. Those studies influenced the EPA to study the chemical further to decide whether to regulate it," Jennifer Goldblatt, Wilmington News Journal.
WASHINGTON, DC -- U.S. EPA to act against DuPont for an ingredient in Teflon, Juliet Eilperin, Washington Post.
POMEROY -- "Ohio Citizen Action will conduct a public information meeting on 'C8 and Its Effects on Drinking Water' at 6 p.m. June 17 at Meigs High School. Jane Houlihan, vice president of research at the Environmental Working Group in Washington, D.C., will be the keynote speaker for this event. Houlihan is a nationally known expert on the uses and effects of the C8 chemical, and will provide information about the potential health hazards of exposure to the chemical in the workplace and community," Marietta Times.
MORE ON DUPONT AND C8
National expert on C8 to speak in Meigs county
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PARKERSBURG, WV -- "One of the previously sealed documents, referred to as the 'Bowman Memo,' is a November 2000 communication from DuPont attorney John R. Bowman and, according to court documents, was prepared more than a week after the Lubeck Public Service District sent a letter to its customers notifying them C8 had been found in their drinking water. In part, the memo states: 'In view of the interest the letter is getting I think we need to make more of an effort to get the business to look into what we can do to get the Lubeck community a clean source of water or filter the C8 out of the water.' The memo notes attorneys in other water contamination suits informed Bowman 'it is less expensive and better to remediate or find clean drinking water for the plaintiffs than fight these suits.' 'We are going to spend millions to defend these lawsuits and have the additional threat of punitive damages hanging over our head. Getting out in front and acting responsibly can undercut and reduce the potential for punitives,' according to Bowman," Pamela Brust, Parkersburg News and Sentinel.CHARLESTON, WV -- Supreme Court orders DuPont documents unsealed in C8 suit, Associated Press.
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CHARLESTON, WV -- DuPont to study effects of C8 on workers at Wood plant, Pam Ramsey, Associated Press.
This photo, taken by a space shuttle astronaut, shows the Ohio River dividing Ohio (north) from West Virginia (south). Parkersburg is the white area south of the river near the center of the photo. Marietta is further north, where the Muskingum River flows into the Ohio River. The DuPont Washington Works is on the south bank of the Ohio River, just west of the large islands.
MARIETTA -- "Little Hocking Water Association customers are expressing concern over reports that the levels of the chemical C8 in their water is at its highest since testing began in 2001. 'I still worry about it,' said Gale Moyers, of Ohio 550, Barlow. 'I worry about C8 being in my water even though they say the parts per billion aren't enough to cause any concern.' . . . Still, some water customers are not overly concerned about the chemical, which is a detergent-like material used by DuPont to manufacture fluoropolymers such as Teflon. 'I suppose it is not too big a problem or we wouldn't be allowed to drink it,' said William Bills, 67, a 50-year resident of Veto, which is served by the water association," Brad Bauer, Marietta Times.
MORE ON LITTLE HOCKING WATER ASSOCIATION
LITTLE HOCKING -- "Little Hocking Water and Sewer Association General Manager Robert Griffin said test results from water samples taken in February show the highest concentration of C8 since testing began in 2001. Concern about C8 in the area has been high since a 2001 class-action suit filed in West Virginia alleged DuPont knowingly allowed a chemical with the trade name of C8, a component used during the production of Teflon, to be discharged into local water supplies at unsafe levels, causing adverse effects on residents' health. DuPont operates a plant at Washington, W.Va., across the Ohio River from Belpre and Little Hocking in western Washington County," Curtis Johnson, Marietta Times.
Study to look at chemical's effect in Ohio
COLUMBUS -- "The Dispatch reported last year that DuPont has known since the early 1980s that C8 contaminated nearby drinking-water supplies in Ohio and West Virginia. The highest levels were detected in the wells of the Little Hocking Water Association, which serves parts of Washington County and Troy Township in Athens County. [Dr. Edward Emmett of the University of Pennsylvania and Dr. Hong Zhang, a Parkersburg, W.Va., physician] will analyze concentrations of C8 in blood and breast milk from about 400 people who live in the water district, including those with private wells. Researchers want to know whether C8 levels are higher in the blood of area residents, how they came in contact with the chemical and whether it poses health risks. Zhang, medical director of an occupational-medicine and environmental health clinic, said she is eager to help answer residents’ questions. 'I’m quite excited that we can do this for the community,' she said," Geoff Dutton, Columbus Dispatch. Access fee; no link.
COLUMBUS -- "A community group is working to educate residents of the Little Hocking Water Association Service District about a study that could provide answers about the health effects of the chemical known as C8. The first newsletter about the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences study will be mailed by early next week to the 1,200 western Washington County residents in the district. Later in the process, about 400 people will be asked to participate in the study by providing samples of blood and/or breast milk," Kate York, Cleveland Plain Dealer.
PARKERSBURG, WV -- "As the Monday hearing began, Parkersburg attorney Diana Everett asked [Wood Circuit Judge George W. Hill] to exclude the media. No reason was given by Everett for requesting a closed-door hearing, other than saying she didn't want what was about to be discussed to be public at this time. . . . Hill did not comment on the reason for closing the hearing, but did announce to media present after the hearing that he denied DuPont's motion to seal the record of the hearing; if the media wished to have a copy of the hearing transcript it would be available from the court reporter," Pamela Brust, Marietta Times.
WASHINGTON, WV -- DuPont starts $900 million staff reorganization, Curtis Johnson, Parkersburg News and Sentinel.