A stream in Williamstown, Ohio tested positive on Jan. 12 for C8, a DuPont chemical used to make Teflon.DuPont has a plant in Washington, WV, about 18 miles north of Williamstown. DuPont scientists were aware in the early 1990s of links to cancerous tumors from C8 exposure. ", Jones' friend Janet Ray's husband passed away 16 years ago from pancreatic cancer. But I don't believe we can blame the everyday worker." What sort of positivity can come to that community? The chemical was used in DuPont's production of Teflon and other household products at its Washington Works facility just outside Parkersburg, along the Ohio River. He died Jan. 28, 2017, at the age of 41, a father of three. "Dark Waters" — a legal thriller starring Mark Ruffalo, with a script inspired by a 2016 New York Times article — tells the epic story of the DuPont corporation's failure to inform residents of the Mid-Ohio Valley of the considerable health risks of a perfluoroalkyl substance [PFAS] called perfluorooctanoic acid, or C8, for its chain of eight carbons. 'Oh, Beth. I don't want to be anywhere else." ... “In July 2015, DuPont separated its Performance Chemicals segment creating Chemours, now a fully independent performance chemical manufacturer. It was the old 'hey-look-over-here!' She now lives on the other side of the state, in West Virginia's Eastern Panhandle. Particulate matter pollution in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh could be behind hundreds of thousands of stillbirths and miscarriages annually, according to a new study. A collective decision was made to use the money won in the class-action suit to conduct an epidemiological study in which nearly 70,000 of the 80,000 plaintiffs stopped into one of six clinics set up throughout the community, provided their medical histories and offered their blood. Fitzsimmons Law Firm recently filed four individual lawsuits against Dupont on behalf of the Firm’s clients who allegedly developed cancer as a result of consuming and drinking water that was contaminated with the chemical C-8 (also known as perfluorooctoanoic acid (PFOA) or ammonium perfluorooctanoate (APFO)), discharged from DuPont’s Washington Works Plant near Parkersburg, … "I think it's terrible, absolutely horrendous what happened because of decisions made for monetary gain. Published in The Columbus Dispatch - C8 $670 Million Settlement He worked for BorgWarner, a manufacturing company on the river. However, the failure of DuPont to comply has led to the new lawsuit on the behalf of Ohio and West Virginia residents who have been poisoned for many years by DuPont’s chemical C8 plant. DuPont had been aware since at least the 1960s that C8 was toxic in animals and since the 1970s that there were high concentrations of it in the blood of its factory workers. "Such a wonderful, accepting community.". Her hip and leg had to be amputated; she underwent 18 months of high-dose chemotherapy. Research has indicated to Danzey, who's a nurse, that pathologically unusual cancers are not uncommonly associated with industrial poisonings. Sure, he paddles in it, but "I try not to get it on me" and never swims in it. He now serves as mayor of the city of Parkersburg — population: 30,000. The Kigers have spent the last two decades working to uncover the impacts and effects of C8 exposure in the region. Hawkins was student body president of the Parkersburg High class of 1993. In 2017, DuPont and Chemours agreed to pay $671 million to settle some 3,500 pending lawsuits. He'd come for a summer internship in the prosecuting attorney's office. The chemical seeped into the water supplies of the communities of Lubeck and Little Hocking, immediately west of Parkersburg, and the city of Belpre, Ohio, just across the river; and three other water systems. to receive a free case evaluation. Parkersburg, said Doug Higgs, is the kind of town where everybody knows everybody. Her brother has lupus and had colon cancer, and her sister-in-law has also been diagnosed with lupus. They don't know what to say." Well-paying jobs, great benefits, Little League sponsorships, investments in the arts — but at a cost. PFOA is considered a surfactant, or fluorosurfactant, due to its chemical structure consisting of a perfluorinated, n-octyl "tail group" and a carboxylate"head group". "It's like, they don't want that frying pan anymore," she said, "but they don't want anything negative, and they're very resentful of the people that stirred up the trouble. Earlier this year, Chemours was cited by the EPA for the unregulated release of new chemical compounds from its West Virginia and North Carolina facilities. The Gulf of Mexico is littered with tens of thousands of abandoned oil and gas wells, and toothless regulation leaves climate warming gas emissions unchecked. An investigation finds the federal agency is not accounting for the cumulative health effect of chemicals as required by law. "I'm not done yet," Joe said. Candace Jones, a neighbor and longtime friend of Roettger's, said she hates the perception that the community has been divided between the DuPonters and everyone else. (Credit: Seth Freeman Photography), SUBSCRIBE TO EHN'S MUST-READ DAILY NEWSLETTER: ABOVE THE FOLD, DuPont had been aware since at least the 1960s that C8 was toxic, nearly 70,000 of the 80,000 plaintiffs stopped into one of six clinics, Chemours was cited by the EPA for the unregulated release of new chemical compounds from its West Virginia and North Carolina facilities, Dirty air and lost pregnancies in South Asia, Op-ed: The reckless embrace of banned pesticides in the US, Op-ed: How the FDA ignores the law when approving new chemical additives to food, Unplugged: Abandoned oil and gas wells leave the ocean floor spewing methane. The chemical seeped into the water supplies of the communities of Lubeck and Little Hocking, immediately west of Parkersburg, and the city of Belpre, Ohio, just across the river; and three other water systems. "It's time for us to expect more. An aerial view of Parkersburg, West Virginia, taken from Fort Boreman Park on Nov. 20, 2019. Joe, a physical education teacher, is now quite well known in the community for having raised awareness of the dangers of C8 — called "the devil's piss" by some — in local water supplies. Darlene said that when she and Joe are out around town, "there are a lot of whispers behind your back. ", Fellow Parkersburg High grad Brian Flinn, an engineer, worked for DuPont for eight and a half years; he worked with the raw materials of Teflon. DuPont technologies enable the majority of the world’s smart devices to function, and also provide crucial components for smart cities as well as electric and autonomous vehicles. This area will be like most other towns in West Virginia; it'll collapse." Three years later, at 27, he was appointed as prosecuting attorney. "I asked the prosecutor if he'd hire me as an assistant the next year, and he said, 'Sure; you'll get $6,000 a year.' "I love West Virginia," she said. Now it’s made in China. And in that letter, it stated the fact that there was a chemical in our water, and it was called C8, but according to DuPont standards, it wasn’t harmful. Hawkins, who now lives in the Washington, D.C., area, views his Partners in Education experiences somewhat differently today: "It wasn't a partnership; it was a page from a public relations playbook. DuPont phased out U.S. production of C-8 several years ago. But Radmanesh said her mom is a proponent of bringing another controversial industry to the valley: fracking for natural gas. Dat C8 schadelijke gevolgen kon hebben voor de gezondheid bleek blijkbaar al uit eigen onderzoek dat producent Dupont uitvoerde in 1961. That's it. I love this state. Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine has filed suit against chemical company DuPont, alleging it released toxic perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) or C8… Meet Scott Dowell: Bill Gates’ Virus Hunter, The People's Agenda for Food Democracy: An Interview With Vandana Shiva, The Long-Term Disaster Far Worse than the COVID-19 Pandemic, Bill Gates: The Billionaire Who Puts Vaccine Profiteering Above Human Life, Vaccine Fundamentalism―War Metaphors in the COVID-19 Response, Vaccine Policy and Public Health, Part 2, Vaccine Fundamentalism―War Metaphors in the COVID-19 Response, Vaccine Policy and Public Health, Part 1, Send a tax-deductible donation to the OCA. Among Hawkins' classmates who have been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer was Mike Cox, a local dentist. I was always in the water.". But "my heart hurts," Tracewell said, to think that her daughter's illnesses might be a consequence of all that. According to a 2007 study, C8 is in the blood of 99.7% of Americans. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have an interest in using the included information for research and educational purposes. Carothers invented neoprene, a synthetic rubber; the first polyester superpolymer; and, in 1935, nylon.The invention of Teflon followed a few years later and has since been proven responsible for health problems in those exposed to the chemical through manufacturing and home use. In the 1920s, DuPont continued its emphasis on materials science, hiring Wallace Carothers to work on polymers in 1928. ", "It's time for something new in West Virginia," she said. DuPont Teflon Chemical Was Detected In Bottled Water Called Crystal Spring. "Everybody knows everybody's business," Higgs said, but nobody talked about C8. Cox, Hawkins and Higgs were among a pack of guys who ran together in high school and stayed close after. It's called a "forever chemical" because it never fully degrades. "It's hard to look back at that time now and see it as idyllic," Danzey said. "There was a misperception that we were trying to put DuPont out of business, and, of course, that was created intentionally by the people in Wilmington," Deitzler said, referring to DuPont's Delaware headquarters. We all want the best for that community … whatever form that can take.". Radmanesh grew up less than a mile from the Washington Works plant. Joyce said he's heard more about his community's long struggle with corporate environmental malfeasance in the past few weeks than in his previous two and a half years in office. '", "Most people thought I was a recovering alcoholic because I never drank a beer, because I couldn't afford to buy one." She was diagnosed with an atypical form of bone cancer in her right hip. DuPont's own documentation specified that C8 was not to be flushed into surface waters, but the company did so for decades. But, some three decades later, there was a price to pay for taking on DuPont. The story began in 1951, when DuPont started purchasing PFOA (which the company refers to as C8) from 3M for use in the manufacturing of Teflon. "We came from that community and that community did a lot to shape us. Cox was a big Ozzy Osbourne fan, and after a grueling regimen of chemo, Hawkins helped arrange backstage passes to a concert, where Osbourne pulled Cox near and shared his own family's experience with cancer. In 2009, DuPont began replacing the chemical PFOA – better known as C8 – with a new concoction known as “GenX” after the company was given the go-ahead by the Environmental Protection Agency. A broken EPA pesticide office stands at a crossroads. In February 2017, DuPont and its spinoff company agreed to pay nearly $671 million to thousands of Mid-Ohio Valley residents affected by C8, a man-made chemical used to make Teflon that has been linked to cancer and other serious side effects. Ammonium perfluorooctanoate is also commonly referred to as PFOA, or simply C-8 in reference to its molecular structure that includes eight (8) carbon (c) atoms. DuPont C8 Lawsuit Information . There's a lot, Joe said, that DuPont hasn't yet been held accountable for. Joyce graduated from Parkersburg High School in 1992, went off and earned three degrees and came home. But the high incidence of a range of diseases has staggered this community. The new chemical, now used in the manufacture of non-stick cookware, is touted by DuPont’s corporate offspring Chemours as a “more sustainable […] DuPont and its spinoff company Chemours will pay $670 million to settle a decades-old battle over C8, a chemical it used to make Teflon, and which has been linked to a host of health problems including cancer. "We all have stories of friends and family, neighbors, dying too young or being diagnosed with various medical problems," Higgs said. C8 is found in nonstick pans, waterproof clothing, stain-resistant carpets, microwave popcorn bags, fast-food wrappers and hundreds of other products. Ongoing legal battles surrounding C8 contamination by a former DuPont plant in West Virginia have drawn renewed attention to the risks associated with the chemical. Chemical giant DuPont currently faces thousands of lawsuits from persons injured as a result of drinking water the company contaminated with its proprietary chemical C8, a chemical that is common in Teflon and non-stick goods.. "I really do. Toch duurde het nog tot de 21e eeuw voordat Dupont de productie van de stof volledig staakte. In addition to being told by 3M, the manufacturer of C8, that the chemical is biopersistent, evidence generated by DuPont’s Haskell Laboratories revealed to DuPont that the half-life of C8 in human blood is several years. In 2012, after seven years of study, the panel released a report documenting a probable link between C8 and six conditions: testicular cancer, kidney cancer, thyroid disease, ulcerative colitis, pregnancy-induced hypertension and high cholesterol. Her dad suffers from discoid lupus, causing sores the size of 50-cent pieces on his forehead. He remembers DuPont's participation in his school's Partners in Education program and riding in parades on DuPont-sponsored floats. To support our work, please send a tax-deductible donation to: OCA, 6771 South Silver Hill Dr., Finland, MN 55603, Petition for Scientists, Lawyers, and Policy Experts, Back to the Future with Tom ''Mr. He can be reached at [email protected]. But there's a film that opened Dec. 5 at the Regal Cinemas at Grand Central Mall that's attracting a lot of attention in his community. "What would it look like if we packed up?". "Yes, it is complicated," her mother, Carolyn Tracewell, said. They need it and they deserve it.". Picking ingredients for a better lifestyle. Over the past few years, DuPont, 3M, and other chemical firms have begun marketing C8-free Teflon, and recent studies show that the levels of C8 in most people's blood are dropping. The chemical, also known as PFOA and another variant PFOS, is believed to be present in the blood of over 98% of Americans. Many lawsuits are still pending to this day. The position didn't pay enough to cover his room and board, so he took a job in a bar called Friar Tuck's. He has a filter installed in his kitchen. (Credit: Lexi Browning/100 Days in Appalachia). DuPont and Chemours Co have agreed to pay $671 million in cash to settle thousands of lawsuits involving a leak of a toxic chemical used to make Teflon, the companies said on Monday. "By the end of the summer, the community was my family," Deitzler said. In 2015, DuPont spun off its chemical division into a new company called Chemours, which now occupies the Washington Works facility on the Ohio. C8/PFOA “affects these communities and these workers, and we’re the only national union presence” in the chemical industry, explained USW spokeswoman Lynn Baker. Hawkins asks this: Think about how loyal the people of the Parkersburg community have been to DuPont. The "PFOA" acronym is used to indicate not only perfluorooctanoic acid itself, but also its principal salts. But she wants better for West Virginians. He's also aware of the inherent dangers in living within the shadow of the chemical industry. Industries come into their communities, do well for a while, "screw up the environment and then leave. "That's home and always will be home," Hawkins said of Parkersburg. C8 or C-8: PFOA is perfluorooctanoic acid and is sometimes called C8.It is a man-made chemical and does not occur naturally in the environment. (Credit: Lexi Browning/100 Days in Appalachia), Tommy Joyce, the mayor of Parkersburg, is bullish on West Virginia: "We've got enough coal to light the world, gas to heat the world and brains to run the world. "I said to her, 'We've already had our water contaminated once. Danzey's stepfather is retired from DuPont and her stepbrother works on the Teflon line. "DuPont has been in the Ohio Valley for 70-plus years, and has been a tremendous employer," he said. Two of the Higgs' most immediate neighbors died in their early 50s of renal cell cancer. At age 20, her thyroid began malfunctioning. move to keep the Teflon dollars flowing into their bank account.". DuPont's own documentation specified that C8 was not to be flushed into surface waters, but the company did so for decades. By Cory Watson Attorneys | September 23rd, 2015. Evidence introduced during the Bartlett trial shows that, beginning no later than 1979, DuPont knew C-8 was biopersistent. Monsanto'' Vilsack - Part I. 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