DuPont Reaches $8.3M Settlement over NJ Contaminated Drinking Water

A $8.3 million settlement has been reached in a class action filed by New Jersey residents against DuPont over allegations that company's nearby plant class contaminated tap water in Penns Grove, NJ.

The lawsuit, begun nearly five years ago, claimed that the tap water was contaminated with perfluorinated compounds — including the perfluorotelomer, ammonium perfluorooctanoate, commonly known as PFOA — from DuPont' Chamber Works facility, which is located four miles from the center of town. PFOA is a byproduct of the manufacture of fluorotelomers, used for stain-repellent textile coatings, non-stick cookware and water and grease-resistant coatings.

Senior scientist with the Environmental Working Group, Olga Naidenko, issued a statement on March 22 stating "For years, thousands of people who live in southern New Jersey have been drinking water polluted with the toxic industrial chemical C8." And "DuPont has disregarded public health by waiting for a federal court order before providing the community with filtered water."

The $8.3 million will help pay for litigation costs by the plaintiffs and fund the installation of in-home water filtration packages for nearly 5,000 southern New Jersey homes. According to a report in plasticsnews.com, the settlement will be used to fund the installation of residential home water filtration packages for roughly 5,000 people living in southern NJ. Alternatively, plaintiffs in the class can opt instead to be paid $800 — which represents the amount of the water filtration package, the estimated $200 for installation, and the cost of 10 replacement cartridges that will have a collective service life of at least five years.

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Published on Apr-4-11