TCE manufacturers sued by polluter; Claim: "They told us to dump it in the ground" (FL)
Back from a longer than expected break and lots to catch up on. We'll start here:
Yesterday's Orlando Sentinel (FL) reports that Dow Chemical and 18 other manufacturers have been sued by the operator of a Lake Mary, Florida plant around which TCE has been discovered at dangerous levels in soil/groundwater:
You may recall that back in June, Dow lost a major verdict in Modesto, CA where they were found guilty of failing to warn dry cleaners about the dangers of PCE and forced to compensate the city for its cost of installing water filters. The Lake Mary suit seems based on a very similar pattern of alleged behavior. However, the recent Lake Mary suit takes things one step further. Not only does it say the manufacturers failed to warn their customers, it appears the manufacturers may have encouraged the pollution.
Before we draw hasty conclusions about who did what, at minimum this article and the lawsuit raise a number of questions:
Yesterday's Orlando Sentinel (FL) reports that Dow Chemical and 18 other manufacturers have been sued by the operator of a Lake Mary, Florida plant around which TCE has been discovered at dangerous levels in soil/groundwater:
MONI Holdings LLC alleges the companies that sold the solvents — not the ones that bought and used them — are responsible for the pollution.Wholly without fault?!? Is this the "they made us do it" defense? If so, this is finger-pointing the likes of which we've never quite seen from an accused polluter. But it sure is interesting.
It says solvent manufacturers told customers to discard the chemical — trichloroethene, or TCE — by spreading it on the ground and allowing it to evaporate, according to the suit.
The results, according to the suit, were disastrous.
[...]
"MONI is wholly without fault for the contamination of the groundwater with TCE . . .," according to the suit.
You may recall that back in June, Dow lost a major verdict in Modesto, CA where they were found guilty of failing to warn dry cleaners about the dangers of PCE and forced to compensate the city for its cost of installing water filters. The Lake Mary suit seems based on a very similar pattern of alleged behavior. However, the recent Lake Mary suit takes things one step further. Not only does it say the manufacturers failed to warn their customers, it appears the manufacturers may have encouraged the pollution.
Before we draw hasty conclusions about who did what, at minimum this article and the lawsuit raise a number of questions:
- Did Dow and others tell customers to dump TCE in the ground? If so, did they do so in writing?
- Is MONI conceding that they did, indeed, dump TCE in the ground?
- Since litigation is pending over TCE-induced diseases resulting from the Lake Mary plant, could manufacturers be held liable for causing these diseases?
- Could manufacturers be held liable for TCE-induced disease caused by other contaminated sites across the country?
- Could manufacturers also be held liable for nation-wide clean-up costs?