Another class-action lawsuit targets DuPont and PFOA

By Holly Fleming

Published on June 15, 2006

PFOA is perfluorooctanoic acid. It is used in the production of Teflon non-stick cookware and other products.

The suit was filed Wednesday and charged that the Chambers Works Plant released PFOA and other chemicals into groundwater supplies in two neighboring Salem County towns.

The suit asks for a large-scale water filtering system, medical monitoring for residents, and punitive damages. Another federal class-action lawsuit addressing the same chemicals was filed in April in U.S. District Court.

PFOA is undergoing rigorous testing due to concerns that the chemical does not break down, builds up in tissues and in the environment, and may cause cancer and other illnesses. An Environmental Protection Agency advisory panel recently suggested that the chemical be added to the list of likely carcinogens.

In March, the EPA admitted that the chemicals used to make common non-stick and non-stain products may be unsafe.

DuPont has agreed to pay hundreds of millions of dollars for contaminating drinking-water supplies in Ohio and West Virginia adjacent to DuPont's Parkersburg, W.Va. plant.

DuPont recently announced plans to build a treatment system at a Mississippi factory in order to remove PFOA from chemicals used at their Chambers Works plant.

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