Kraft Foods Agrees to $8.1 Million Settlement in Environmental Class Action

Attica, IN: Kraft Foods has agreed to pay $8.1 million to settle an environmental class action lawsuit brought in 2009 over allegations that the plant it took over in 2002 was responsible for contaminating groundwater in Attica.

The suit was brought by 130 residents of Attica who alleged that two chemicals classed as probable human carcinogens, namely TCE (trichloroethylene) and PCE (tetrachloroethylene), had leached into the ground water and then vaporized and seeped into their homes. These chemicals were used by the previous owner of the factory, RMC, which made ceramic capacitors for electronics. Reportedly, RMC had entered into an agreement with the Environmental Protection Agency to investigate and clean up the contamination which was the result of decades of dumping chemicals into unlined pits. RMC went bankrupt in 2001, and could not complete the cleanup. Kraft foods bought the site and agreed to continue the remediation in 2002. The $8.1 million settlement was approved by a district court judge last week.

Additionally, Kraft has agreed to pay to clean up the plant site, install mitigation units in homes affected by the toxins, and deal with contaminated groundwater. Because Kraft did not own the factory when the chemicals were being used, it has denied any liability for the air and water pollution.

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Published on May-23-11