GenX is an emerging contaminant that is still being studied for potential health impacts, but it is similar to other chemical compounds which have been linked to cancer.
The attorneys confirmed that they have been contacted by numerous clients in the Wilmington area suffering from medical issues, and expect to file suit soon against Chemours and DuPont.
“Wilmington residents have been calling us, and my mailbox has been full several times a day,” Baron & Budd environmental law attorney John Fiske told WECT.
“There have been so many people calling us, and they’re calling us with ulcerative colitis.
Summy explained that MTBE tainted the drinking water in one neighborhood, and the company ended up settling for $36 million with about 200 residents affected by the contamination.
Attorneys must prove exactly which chemicals people were exposed to, that those chemicals have been shown to cause certain adverse health effects in humans, and then find people who suffered those ailments.
Baron & Budd said they are handling four cases in other parts of the country, including Barstable, Massachusetts, and Escambia, Florida, involving residents who were exposed to C8, a predecessor of GenX that has been linked to cancer.
Summy said Wilmington is the first place his firm is aware of where GenX contamination has been an issue, and that the city could become the “poster child for GenX contamination.” Chemours claims it received a consent order from the EPA to discharge GenX into the Cape Fear River as long as it was produced as a byproduct while making other chemicals.
The CFPUA is studying various water filtration systems that could be installed to remove most of the GenX and other emerging contaminants in our water supply.
Some residents have also expressed anger that CFPUA knew about GenX in the water months before the public was first made aware of the contaminant in an article in the Wilmington StarNews.