CHARLESTON, W.Va., Feb. 28 -- A judge on Monday approved the settlement of a class-action lawsuit alleging a chemical used in making the nonstick substance Teflon contaminated water supplies near DuPont Co.'s Washington Works plant.
Wood County Circuit Judge George W. Hill called the settlement -- in which DuPont agreed to pay at least $107.6 million -- "a very shrewdly and competently organized proposal and it seems to be a very unprecedented action by a huge corporate defendant."
Hill noted that the settlement was finalized without any evidence that perfluorooctanoic acid, known as PFOA or C-8, caused any disease.
The lawsuit was filed in August 2001 on behalf of residents living near the plant, located on the Ohio River, who said their drinking supply was contaminated by PFOA.
DuPont has denied any wrongdoing but said in September it decided to settle because of the time and expense of litigation. Under the agreement, blood tests will be conducted on current customers of six area water districts, former customers of those suppliers, and residents with private wells.
The agreement also calls for DuPont, based in Wilmington, Del., to provide the six water utilities with treatment equipment to reduce PFOA in drinking water, at an estimated cost of $10 million. It also is to fund a $5 million study to determine whether PFOA makes people sick and pay $22.6 million in legal fees and expenses for plaintiffs.
