As it turns out the manufacture of Teflon by DuPont was toxic, and poisoned an entire watershed in West Virginia. The ominously named C-8, a chemical used by DuPont for decades to smooth out freshly made Teflon is highly carcinogenic.
C-8 was dumped wholesale into the Ohio River for more than 30 years, and to make things even more atrocious management at DuPont knew it was toxic. They also had another chemical they could have used, but it was more expensive.
This lawsuit was began in 1998, and DuPont is just now having to pony-up for all of the havoc and human misery they have created. Over the span of this debacle hundreds of thousands of pounds of C-8, also known perfluorooctanoic acid, were dumped into the drinking water for more than 70,000 people.
This kind of behavior is inhumane in the highest, and should be a criminal offense. While I am not a supporter of the death penalty, this sort of offense would qualify for its use!
Included among the miseries that were suffered because of this travesty are 1,300 claims of thyroid disease, 270 claims of kidney or testicular cancer and 30 deaths.
I fail to see how this is not a felony. If responsible parties are not prosecuted, there is no justice done.
Money can’t paper over lost lives and untold suffering.
This is not just a bunch of dead bunny rabbits or a forest fire. These are dead human bodies and lives destroyed by the preventable scourge of cancer. People lived with the trauma of cancer, died for the profits of a multi-national, and they company knew what they were doing.
Hang them in the village square!
While DuPont and Chemours agreed to each pay half of a $671.7 million dollar settlement, plus an additional $250 million over the next five years, they admitted no wrongdoing.
The logic of that statement leaves my mind reeling, but sadly in a world run my sociopathic multinationals this story is all too common.
In the wake of this lawsuit, communities all over the country are looking for C-8. Sadly, it is everywhere. More than 94 public drinking water systems in the US have reported C-8 in their water, and the list will only grow as more are tested.
We are left to wonder when corporate maleficence is seen for what it is; a crime against humanity.
Unless we stand up for ourselves, this will never end.
Boycott DuPont, and find another way keep food from sticking to your pan.
[via truth-out]
You must see the documentary “The Devil We Know” about the Dupont lawsuit and the murderous activity of this company. It’s available online. I just saw it at the Sedona Film Festival. One of the most powerful statement on film about the poisoning of our natural resources and the impact on everyday people like you and.