Dupont Company Sued

Isabella Cahen

Dupont company had, for decades, contaminated the water supply in Tuppers plain, Ohio. On October the 7th of 2015, Barret, a 59-year-old man reported to an Ohio Federal Jury the first of 3,500 personal injury and wrongful death suits against the 'chemical giant Dupont.' Bartlett's diagnostic revealed a type of kidney cancer, and Dupont was found liable in the Jury. This toxic chemical was formerly involved in the manufacturing of the signature non-stick coating: Teflon.

The Jury was a product of two decades worth of legal battles. Bartlett was awarded $1.6 million, but there was extreme difficulty connecting common ailments to a specific chemical, to prove Dupont was responsible for Barates kidney cancer. The time it took for the Jury to legally find Dupont guilty for Ballets cancer, and the improbability of the verdict highlights America's flawed system into regulating potentially dangerous chemicals.

Here is where the problem stands: America has no mandatory safety test on the thousands of chemicals used daily in America; hence doctors also have little guidance to identify possible health hazards, as information on these chemicals is lacking.
"Well, I drank my water. That doesn't sound like a problem. It was a problem". (Bartlett)
In the vast area of toxic chemicals, DuPont holds its stand. The alleged chemical, also known as c8 did not solely pollute Bartlett's drinking water; 98 percent of America's population bloodstreams found to have traces of this unregulated chemical. This abusive and invading chemical originated as a fluorocarbon- Polytetrafluoroethylene and was superior for its non-stick properties. This was an advantage to the industry of cooking utensils such as coat pots and pans; by 1948 'Dupont was producing 2 million pounds of Teflon per year. Americans helped this company become a gold mine, bringing Dupont sales to a peaking one billion in 2004. However, Americans were naive about the detrimental consequences of this chemical. Its non-sticking properties made this chemical incapable of biodegrading; instead, it bioaccumulated.
Dupont did not stop there. They began using another laboratory fabricated chemical known as Perfluorooctanoic (PFOA) acid, or C8. This durable chemical, which included C8, was used in hundreds of products, including fast-food wrappers, waterproof clothing, electrical cables, and pizza boxes. At this point, the toxicity of these chemicals was everywhere, from water drinking supplies to everyday used products consumed by Americans. It was everywhere.
In the Telfon (C8) plant in Parkersburg, West Virginia, consequences due to this morbid chemical started to show. As if that was not enough for 98 percent of Americans to have traces of C8 in their bloodstream, Buck Bailer, the son of a mother that worked in the Telfon Plan was born with nostril and other facial deformities. This carbon compound escaped into the air quickly, and workers' lungs were put at risk. In 1981, Telfon ordered all female employees to be removed from the Telfon divisions, due to two out of seven pregnant workers giving birth to children with defects. This chemical did not only endanger the workers and the new baby's life, but its invasiveness proved to have its effect on the umbilical cord and breast milk, according to the Centrals for Disease control. Further on, it did not solely affect Americans and workers but also the environment. C8 had made its way into the blood of seals, eagles, around the world, as they egregiously disposed of their chemicals waste out into the open ocean.
As a result, a scandal with a local fisherman sparked. He dragged a barrel up in his nets, where C8 had been disposed of. At this point, Dupont was a monopoly company, whose products were consumed by the vast of America's population. Emerging information from internal company reports revealed Dupont's hypocrisy. Several Dupont scientists and senior staff members had, for many years, we're aware of the harms and hazards of c8. Ironically and as expected, Dupont continued to use this chemical while still putting its workers, local Americans, and the American public at risk.

Dupont did not stop here; instead, it increased its Telfon Production.As part of Dupont's discovery in the toxicity of these chemicals, the company self-founded its safety-testing laboratory (as if they did not know). In 1961, results revealed linked exposure to enlarged livers in rats and rabbits. Moreover, scientists at Dupont gathered a group of volunteers to smoke cigarettes laced with C8. "Nine out of 10 people in the highest dose group were noticeably ill for an average of nine hours with flu-like symptoms that included chills, backache, fever, and coughing," Research noted. Now, imagine what a temporal exposure to this chemical can cause; it is no doubt that the excess of exposure people received caused them such health problems. It was concluded that this chemical was indeed toxic and should be 'handled with extreme care.' It was no wonder C8 exposure was formally linked to ulcerative colitis, pregnancy-included hypertension, high cholesterol' thyroid disease; testicular cancer; and kidney cancer. This chemical was a threat to the entire body, even at minimum levels of exposure.

Dupont secretly began collecting local tap water and asked employees to bring jars from their own homes, local businesses, and even schools. As expected, c8 was making its way into public drinking water supplies both in Ohio and West Virginia.
The stakes were high. The Washington Works plan, where Teflon was manufactured, had the highest employment rates in the region. The plant employed more than 2,000 people. On the one hand, these 2,000 people were exposed to this toxic chemical, plus if the plant were to shut down, they would all lose their jobs. Dupont regarded this issue in an unethical manner. Dupont was concerned with the company's image and claimed that the cutting pollution method was not "economically attractive." It was evident that money, power, and reputation was their primary concern; being responsible for significant health problems, destruction of the environment, and the burdens of a mother giving birth to a child with deformity were not of their concerns.

Unsurprisingly, Dupont, in the years following escalated c8 production. Dupont's firm stand and prestige were undermined when Wilbur Tennant, from West Virginia, and four other members of his family, sued DuPont in 1998. This showed great courage from Wilbur Tennant, as legal battles are pricey, plus what was the probability of a local farmer winning a case over an authoritarian monopoly company. Tennant claimed his farm was polluted, as DuPont had purchased a patch of Land connected to Tennant farm through the Ohio River.
Tenant cut opens a cow to investigate the cause of death, as it seemed they had been dying at a speeding rate. He discovered its internal organs had turned neon green. Tenna and his family members, too, suffered from breathing difficulties and cancer. Tenant didn't live to see the ripple effect of his lawsuit. He passed away as a cause of cancer in 2009.

Tenants' attorney, Robert Bilott, forcefully made Dupont turn over pages of the internal company documents (as part of the legal process). In those materials, there was a single mention of a chemical: PFAO (C8). These chemicals derived from one called PFOS, Dupont, had just readopted it. From this, the company was asked to turn over all documents concerning c8.

This discovery was a win for the ensuing legal battles, as they served to prove Dupont had been incriminating evidence for decades. The company knew that the levels of C8 exposure they were producing were concerning. One email found in 2001, a scientist warned that c8 was so toxic that it "might require the public to wear' gas masks," Another email revealed Dupont's counsel, Bernard Reilly's plan to push regulators to allow the public to be exposed to higher levels of the chemical that Dupont itself had already established.

If it was not clear of Dupont's ignorance before, I think we can agree to call them hypocritical criminals. They did not care about damages and were willing to do anything for their billion-dollar company to continue running, and being a harmful threat to Americans and the environment. The company's legal efforts to cover up C8 risk are shocking and disgusting.

Bartlett further discovered that C8 contamination was not isolated to Tenants' property. The chemical had made its way into public water supplies in West Virginia and Ohio. The same Year, Bartlett filed a lawsuit against DuPont on behalf of approximately 80,000 people. Moreover, he reported his findings to the US Environmental Protection Agency and sent 900 copies of DuPont's internal documents. As a result, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency also filed a lawsuit against Dupont. Dupont was charged with concealing evidence about c8 risks for two decades. Consequently, the company paid $16.5 million as part of the settlement. But what is the price of consciously harming people's health, solely for the benefit of your company, you're money? Either way, 16.5 billion was nothing compared to the billions of dollars they made per year—less than a scratch. Environment groups argue that the fine was mockingly less than the amount sold in a day. Under the terms of the settlement, DuPont was not required to remove C8 from the market. However, the legal battle continued and still continues to this day. After attorney Billot with the agreement of DuPont founded a health study due to the settlement obligation to determine whether C8 exposure actually harmed people. DuPont founded the Research for 235 million dollars, expecting the medical program to fail as it would not attract enough participants to conclude a valid response. However, 80 percent of West Virginia's and Ohio's community showed up to get their blood drawn as they were offered 400 dollar checks. Results proved nothing new, C8 was determinantal and a live threatening chemical to people's health, viably linked with different forms of health disease. This gave the opportunity for individuals to fill personal and independent lawsuits against the company, and for DuPont to take responsibility.DuPont later on replaced c8 chemical in 2021, but lawsuits have continued due to similar health concerns. DuPont is still a billion-dollar company and continues to involve itself in the chemical field.