The Little Hocking Water Association has filed a lawsuit against DuPont in U.S. district court over the contamination of the local wellfield and water supplies with the manufacturing substance known as C8.
PFOA or perfluorooctanoic acid was detected in the water supply in 2002 after decades of its use in manufacturing processes by neighboring DuPont Washington Works. The suit filed last Monday says the company had knowledge of the contamination and its potential for harm to human health for many years before revealing its findings to the public.
The Little Hocking Water Association was not a party to the class action suit and subsequent settlement filed against DuPont over the contamination of six local water districts. Now the association is asking for a jury trial to determine damages. The rural water provider is also asking for an unadulterated source of water for its customers since its 45 acre wellfield and the aquifer beneath it has been contaminated.
The water association is suing the corporation under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.
Showing posts with label LHWA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label LHWA. Show all posts
Monday, December 7, 2009
Thursday, April 3, 2008
C8 Health Project Releases Raw Data on PFOA Exposure
Some of the most important and highly anticipated data from the C8 Health Project was released online this week.
The results posted include a summary of the concentrations of the manufacturing chemical known as C8 or PFOA detected in the blood of 70,000 local participants. The new information is available on the West Virginia University website. The summary of raw data confirms that the people who have consumed water from the Little Hocking Water Association display by far the highest exposure levels on average.
The health project detected an average of 83 parts per billion across the study population, but trends become more obvious when comparing participants by water district. The average in Little Hocking was 226 parts per billion. For people who lived in the Lubeck public service district 94 ppb was the average, in Belpre it was 43 ppb, Tuppers Plains 40 ppb, Pomeroy 15 ppb and participants from Mason County, West Virginia averaged 14 parts per billion.
Yet, the study also reveals some of the highest levels observed in human studies of perfluorinated chemicals. In fact, the highest level recorded in the project may be the highest concentration on record for a human exposed to C8. One Little Hocking resident tested as high as 22,412 parts per billion. A Lubeck resident exhibited a level of 17,557 parts per billion, a Tuppers Plains resident had a concentration of 8,162 parts per billion, and a Belpre resident tested at 7,932 parts per billion.
Industry studies show workers with elevated exposure levels, but they only go up to 5,000 parts per billion.
Project administrators warn against drawing health conclusions from the raw data. Little is known about what levels may prove to be "acceptable" or "harmful". Numerous scientific studies are underway to examine potential human health effects. The US EPA is trying to determine whether C8 should be classified as a “suggested” or “likely” carcinogen.
You can view the results online at: http://www.hsc.wvu.edu/som/cmed/c8/results/C8AndPFCLevels/index.asp
The results posted include a summary of the concentrations of the manufacturing chemical known as C8 or PFOA detected in the blood of 70,000 local participants. The new information is available on the West Virginia University website. The summary of raw data confirms that the people who have consumed water from the Little Hocking Water Association display by far the highest exposure levels on average.
The health project detected an average of 83 parts per billion across the study population, but trends become more obvious when comparing participants by water district. The average in Little Hocking was 226 parts per billion. For people who lived in the Lubeck public service district 94 ppb was the average, in Belpre it was 43 ppb, Tuppers Plains 40 ppb, Pomeroy 15 ppb and participants from Mason County, West Virginia averaged 14 parts per billion.
Yet, the study also reveals some of the highest levels observed in human studies of perfluorinated chemicals. In fact, the highest level recorded in the project may be the highest concentration on record for a human exposed to C8. One Little Hocking resident tested as high as 22,412 parts per billion. A Lubeck resident exhibited a level of 17,557 parts per billion, a Tuppers Plains resident had a concentration of 8,162 parts per billion, and a Belpre resident tested at 7,932 parts per billion.
Industry studies show workers with elevated exposure levels, but they only go up to 5,000 parts per billion.
Project administrators warn against drawing health conclusions from the raw data. Little is known about what levels may prove to be "acceptable" or "harmful". Numerous scientific studies are underway to examine potential human health effects. The US EPA is trying to determine whether C8 should be classified as a “suggested” or “likely” carcinogen.
You can view the results online at: http://www.hsc.wvu.edu/som/cmed/c8/results/C8AndPFCLevels/index.asp
Thursday, January 24, 2008
C8 Lingers in LHWA Distribution System
The Little Hocking Water Association mailed a notice to all its members informing them that C8 is still being detected in the distribution system despite the installation of a filtration plant to remove the manufacturing substance from drinking water supplies.
The new treatment plant went online a little more than two months ago around the beginning of November. Since that time, the carbon filtration material has already been changed out once.
LHWA says that the filtration plant appears to be working, but C8 remains in the distribution system because of past accumulations. Though water leaving the treatment facility is testing nondetect for C8, the chemical is being detected at levels ranging from 19 to 73 parts per trillion at various places throughout the distribution system.
The notice says until the water association has reliable data that establishes that C8 has been eliminated from the distribution system, consumers may be drinking or otherwise using water containing C8 – and doing so at their own risk of possible health effects.
Read Callie's story on WMOA
The new treatment plant went online a little more than two months ago around the beginning of November. Since that time, the carbon filtration material has already been changed out once.
LHWA says that the filtration plant appears to be working, but C8 remains in the distribution system because of past accumulations. Though water leaving the treatment facility is testing nondetect for C8, the chemical is being detected at levels ranging from 19 to 73 parts per trillion at various places throughout the distribution system.
The notice says until the water association has reliable data that establishes that C8 has been eliminated from the distribution system, consumers may be drinking or otherwise using water containing C8 – and doing so at their own risk of possible health effects.
Read Callie's story on WMOA
Friday, November 30, 2007
C8 Still in the LHWA System
In response to test results received today, DuPont has consented to continue to provide bottled water for Little Hocking Water Association customers by reimbursement only. The details of the program will be made available on Monday.
Today's results confirm that the C8 has not yet been purged completely from the system.
Today's results confirm that the C8 has not yet been purged completely from the system.
LHWA asks DuPont to Continue Bottled Water Program in Light of New Test Results
The Little Hocking Water Association is asking DuPont once again to continue to foot the bill for bottled water for their customers until tests prove that a new filtration plant is successfully removing detectable levels of C8 from the water.
The bottled water program was put in place in the fall of 2005 after Dr. Edward Emmett found levels of C8 in Little Hocking people were 40 to 60 times higher than the general public. Prior to the release of Emmett's findings, the water association had been negotiating with DuPont for an alternative supply of water outside the scope of the class action lawsuit filed against the corporation in Wood County.
So far, DuPont has spent $3 million providing bottled water for most of Little Hocking's 12,000 customers. Company officials say the program is at an end. But, the water association is urging them to continue it for a while longer.
Robert Griffin is the general manager of the Little Hocking Water Association:
"Even though purging is not complete, DuPont apparently intends to end the bottled water program on November 30," Griffin said. "We are continuing to urge DuPont to fund the bottled water program at least until next week, when we have more results from tests that were taken this Tuesday by DuPont at the request of the U.S. EPA."
Griffin is asking customers to pay attention to test results, which will be the true test of the filtration system's effectiveness.
"Test results received by LHWA Wednesday night indicate that purging is still necessary," Griffin said.
He said one tank had C8 levels that were three times greater than the U.S. EPA's action level of 0.50 parts per billion. That level was negotiated by the EPA with DuPont. Other test results received on Wednesday night showed that areas of the system that have already been purged still contain levels of C8 well above the carbon change-out "trigger" of 15 parts per trillion.
“It is important to get as much data as possible before the bottled water program ends, because, as we said on November 2, we want to be able to confirm for our customers that the system as designed and constructed by DuPont will effectively remove the higher concentrations of C8 found in LHWA’s water," Griffin said.
He said those test results could become available as early as today.
The bottled water program was put in place in the fall of 2005 after Dr. Edward Emmett found levels of C8 in Little Hocking people were 40 to 60 times higher than the general public. Prior to the release of Emmett's findings, the water association had been negotiating with DuPont for an alternative supply of water outside the scope of the class action lawsuit filed against the corporation in Wood County.
So far, DuPont has spent $3 million providing bottled water for most of Little Hocking's 12,000 customers. Company officials say the program is at an end. But, the water association is urging them to continue it for a while longer.
Robert Griffin is the general manager of the Little Hocking Water Association:
"Even though purging is not complete, DuPont apparently intends to end the bottled water program on November 30," Griffin said. "We are continuing to urge DuPont to fund the bottled water program at least until next week, when we have more results from tests that were taken this Tuesday by DuPont at the request of the U.S. EPA."
Griffin is asking customers to pay attention to test results, which will be the true test of the filtration system's effectiveness.
"Test results received by LHWA Wednesday night indicate that purging is still necessary," Griffin said.
He said one tank had C8 levels that were three times greater than the U.S. EPA's action level of 0.50 parts per billion. That level was negotiated by the EPA with DuPont. Other test results received on Wednesday night showed that areas of the system that have already been purged still contain levels of C8 well above the carbon change-out "trigger" of 15 parts per trillion.
“It is important to get as much data as possible before the bottled water program ends, because, as we said on November 2, we want to be able to confirm for our customers that the system as designed and constructed by DuPont will effectively remove the higher concentrations of C8 found in LHWA’s water," Griffin said.
He said those test results could become available as early as today.
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Dominoes: Little Hocking to Minnesota
Incredibly, I’ve just learned that it was the detection of C8 in Little Hocking water supplies that led to the discovery of PFCs near 3M’s Minnesota facility.
The credit for this turn of events could go to attorney Rob Bilott, who stumbed upon C8 in 2000 – or the Tennant family who hired Bilott to find out what was killing their cattle. However, even the resultant class action alone didn’t alert the Minnesota authorities.
In the most amazing, but simple way, it was Robert Griffin, general manager of the Little Hocking Water Association who first alerted the Minnesota Department of Health to the presence of C8 in the water near the 3M Company’s Cottage Grove facility. He called to ask if they had established any sort of health-based values or community exposure guidelines for the presence of the stuff in their drinking water. Befuddled, MDH contacted 3M to ask what the heck Griffin was talking about, which in turn prompted a confession from 3M that they had known about the presence of PFCs in the local water for decades but failed to disclose their internal test results to the public health authorities!
In the end it proves that simply being there to ask the right questions can accomplish so much.
The credit for this turn of events could go to attorney Rob Bilott, who stumbed upon C8 in 2000 – or the Tennant family who hired Bilott to find out what was killing their cattle. However, even the resultant class action alone didn’t alert the Minnesota authorities.
In the most amazing, but simple way, it was Robert Griffin, general manager of the Little Hocking Water Association who first alerted the Minnesota Department of Health to the presence of C8 in the water near the 3M Company’s Cottage Grove facility. He called to ask if they had established any sort of health-based values or community exposure guidelines for the presence of the stuff in their drinking water. Befuddled, MDH contacted 3M to ask what the heck Griffin was talking about, which in turn prompted a confession from 3M that they had known about the presence of PFCs in the local water for decades but failed to disclose their internal test results to the public health authorities!
In the end it proves that simply being there to ask the right questions can accomplish so much.
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