NEWS

Toxic legacy: key players

Jeff Mordock
The News Journal

 

Joe Kiger searches through a leather-bound binder filled with DuPont and C8 related documents that he now refers to as his Bible. Kiger, who suffers from high cholesterol and liver disease, was the lead plaintiff on a class action lawsuit against DuPont that resulted in a multi-million dollar settlement and first-of-its-kind medical study of area residents.

Joe Kiger

Kiger became the lead plaintiff in a class-action lawsuit file against DuPont in 2001 after he received a notice from his water company advising him that PFOA, or perfluorooctanoic acid, was in the water supply. A scientist at the EPA in Philadelphia said,  "What the hell is that doing in your water supply?

Attorney Harry Deitzler, who practiced for years in Parkersburg as a prosecuting attorney, now represents thousands in their lawsuits against DuPont over C8 pollution.

Harry Dietzler

After DuPont agreed to settle a class-action suit and pay $70 million, Dietzler got the idea to use the money to test everyone in the region. More than 69,000 people were tested as part of "Harry's Project," and probable links were discovered between C8 exposure and testicular and kidney cancer, ulcerative colitis, thyroid disease, and high cholesterol – links that have become the basis of 3,500 pending lawsuits.

Parkersburg, W.Va. mayor Jimmy Colombo lauds DuPont for their years of community involvement saying he has never had one complaint reach his office regarding C8 pollution.

Mayor Jimmy Colombo 

Parkersburg Mayor Jimmy Colombo says the stories about C8 have been overhyped. He points to DuPont's sponsoring of local high schools and lending technical expertise to help the city resolve problems that required a mechanic or engineer. He has not heard a single complaint about DuPont either in his personal life or as mayor.

Earl Botkin with his wife Gwen in their Evans, W.Va. home. Botkin must adhere to a strict regimen of diet and medication to deal with ululcerative colitis which he says was caused by C8 exposure in his drinking water.

Earl Botkin

Earl Botkin was once an avid outdoorsman who fished and gardened, maintaining 41 rose bushes in front of his house. Today, he deals with debilitating ulcerative colitis, high cholesterol and thyroid disease, three ailments that Harry's Project determined had probable links to C8 exposure. "We had a lot of plans," he said. "DuPont really ruined us."

Dr. Paul Brooks was one of two medical doctors who led an area-wide study on the affects of C8 pollution using money from a class action settlement with DuPont.

Dr. Paul Brooks 

Brooks, at Harry Dietzler's urging, headed the science panel that found probable links between C8 exposure and illnesses. Perhaps the panel's greatest contribution is preventing DuPont from escaping liability in future C8 cases. DuPont's corporate counsel agreed not to fight any personal injury or wrongful death suit brought against the company by plaintiffs suffering diseases the panel found had a "probable link" to C8.  "Causation ends all debate," Brooks said.