Wednesday, August 10, 2005
Spencer Hunt
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
CHEMICAL FOUND AT CIRCLEVILLE PLANT SITE
A chemical used to make Teflon has been found in the air
near DuPont’s Circleville plant and in wastewater that
trickles into the Scioto River.
Perfluorooctanoic acid, or C8, started a firestorm in
southern Ohio after it was found in drinking water in five
Ohio towns and in as many communities in West Virginia.
Last year, DuPont agreed to pay as much as $343 million to
settle a class-action lawsuit from residents in West
Virginia and Ohio. About $70 million is being spent there on
a study of C8’s health effects on as many as 80,000 people
who drank the contaminated water.
Although DuPont says it uses a much smaller amount of C8 at
its Circleville plant, levels measured in the plant’s
wastewater were higher than those detected in wells in
southern Ohio.
No one is sure of the health effects of C8, but a panel of
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency scientists said in June
that the chemical should be considered a "likely" cancer
risk.
Ohio EPA records obtained by The Dispatch show C8 was found
in wastewater tests Du-Pont conducted in July and in October
2004 at the Circleville plant. DuPont has tested for C8 in
wells used for drinking water in Pickaway and Ross counties.
"The tests didn’t detect it," said Dennis Williams, general
manager of the Earnhart Hill Regional Water and Sewer
District, which serves about 4,000 customers in eastern
Pickaway County. "We will still run it again to make sure."
Bill Neal, manager of the Ross County Water Co., which
serves 13,000 people outside Chillicothe, said he’s waiting
for results from tests six weeks ago.
"We’re 20 miles down the river," Neal said. "I think it
would take quite a bit to get that far."
DuPont has used C8 to help make Teflon and other nonstick,
stain- and water-resistant coatings for pots and pans,
clothing and carpeting and other products for years.
In Circleville, DuPont conducted several tests of water from
its two holding ponds, or lagoons, at the plant, according
to EPA records.
One lagoon had levels ranging from 9.4 to 13.2 parts per
billion. The other, which company and state officials said
drains to the Scioto, had levels ranging between 8.1 and 9.8
parts per billion.
Tests performed in 2002 of wells used by the Little Hocking
Water Association, across the Ohio River from DuPont’s plant
in Washington Works, near Parkersburg, W.Va., showed C8 at
1.7 to 6.2 parts per billion.
One part per billion is equal to 50 drops of water in an
Olympic-size pool.
Less information is available on how much C8 was released
into the air. Ohio EPA officials would not release estimates
for 2004 provided by DuPont.
The Circleville plant uses less than 400 pounds of C8 a
year, said Sarah Wallace, an Ohio EPA engineer.
DuPont spokesman Clif Webb would not say how much of the
chemical the Washington Works plant uses but said the
company released 56,000 pounds of C8 to the Ohio River in
1999.
In December, the Circleville plant began incinerating its
wastewater contaminated with C8 instead of sending it
through water treatment, plant manager Rob Banerjee said.
DuPont has agreed to reduce or eliminate its use of C8 by
the end of 2006, he added.
Banerjee said DuPont told Pickaway County officials about
the issue this year.
"They didn’t think they were doing the community any harm,"
said County Commissioner John Stevenson. "Do I have total
confidence that there’s nothing there? No, not exactly. But
I was given evidence that there’s nothing harmful there and
that they’re trying to control it."
The Earnhart Hill Regional Water and Sewer District notified
its customers that it had tested for C8, Williams said. The
Ross County Water Co. has not told customers, Neal
said. "We’re pretty much expecting it won’t be a problem,"
he said. Dispatch reporter Kristy Eckert contributed to this
story.
shunt@dispatch.com
Copyright © 2005, The Columbus Dispatch