DuPont Settles PFOA Suit Impacting 1,000s in OH & WV

New York, NY, February 14, 2017—A $671 million settlement announced Monday between DuPont Co. and lawyers representing thousands of people in Ohio and West Virginia could bring a swift end to years of litigation there, reports the Wall Street Journal.

“The proposed settlement, which needs to be approved by individual plaintiffs, comes amid growing concern over the potential effects of perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOA, on drinking-water quality and health. It also comes as a range of other hazards to the nation's aging drinking-water infrastructure, from lead pipes to farm runoff to the presence of other industrial chemicals, gain widespread attention,” the article by Kris Maher and Cameron McWhirter reports.

The settlement, announced Monday, could fuel cases in other states where people have alleged health problems after a chemical used to make Teflon got into their drinking water. Says the article, “State investigations in New York, Vermont and elsewhere have found high levels of PFOA in water systems near current and former manufacturing sites where companies used the chemical for decades to make everything from Teflon frying pans to Gore-Tex waterproof jackets to pizza boxes.”

"The fact that DuPont was willing to put up real money for settlement of these claims has to be a shot in the arm for plaintiffs' lawyers pursuing similar claims elsewhere," said Howard Erichson, a law professor at Fordham University School of Law.