DuPont chemical plant west of Parkersburg, West Virginia, and across the Ohio River from drinking water well fields for the Little Hocking Water Association in Ohio Wednesday on February 12, 2003.
[Craig Holman/Dispatch] Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine has filed suit against chemical company DuPont, alleging it released toxic perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) or C8, for decades from its Washington Works plant on the Ohio River — despite knowing potential health and environmental risks.
A DuPont spokesperson declined to comment, saying the company had not yet been served with the lawsuit.
PFOA builds up and persists in blood as well as in soil and water, where it is resistant to regular environmental degradation.
DuPont used PFOA to manufacture Teflon products from the 1950s through 2013.
According to the state’s lawsuit, DuPont released the chemical from its Washington Works plant — located near Parkersburg, West Virginia — for decades.
We believe now, with the progression of science … we have a really strong case.” In February 2017, DuPont and its spinoff company Chemours agreed to pay nearly $671 million to settle 3,500 lawsuits filed in federal district courts over C8 contamination from its plant near Parkersburg.
Most of the lawsuits involved Mid-Ohio Valley residents who said they developed cancer and other ailments by drinking water contaminated with C8 dumped by DuPont in the Ohio River and spewed from its smokestacks.
“Litigation seems to be continuing,” he said.
”(Thursday’s) complaint reflects recognition by the state of Ohio that these particular materials present a risk and they should be addressed properly.” In January, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency asked Chemours to test public and private drinking water supplies in communities along the Ohio River for a different chemical, GenX, also used to make products including Teflon, according to Bloomberg News.