DuPont Plant Issues Warning on Dioxin Exposure
Aug. 16–HARRISON COUNTY — Officials from the DuPont DeLisle plant have begun notifying employees that they may have been exposed to a powerful, cancer-causing dioxin.
The action comes just days before the first of nearly 2,000 lawsuits against DuPont begins. The case of Glen Strong, who claims dioxins released from DuPont gave him cancer, is expected to begin Wednesday in the Jones County Circuit Court in Laurel.
In the months leading up to trial, a Circuit Court judge ordered the titanium dioxide plant to allow Strong’s attorneys to collect test samples from the DeLisle site. DuPont assembled its own team of test-takers to gather samples from the exact locations used by the plaintiffs’ researchers.
Both sides told the Sun Herald that traces of TCDD, one of the most toxic forms of dioxin, were found in at least three of the samples, taken near the ore dryer baghouse area and a now-defunct fume disposal stack.
There are 210 compounds included in the dioxin family, but only one, TCDD, has been classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer as a human carcinogen.
DuPont officials are notifying employees with a letter accompanying their monthly paychecks, saying they may have been exposed to the toxic compound.
Nearly four years ago, attorneys filed lawsuits on behalf of 1,996 plaintiffs, local residents and former DuPont employees, claiming plant pollutants have caused a variety of illnesses.
“While these three samples show trace levels of TCDD, we are taking immediate actions to ensure the continued safety and health of our employees and the community,” DuPont spokesman Terry Gooding said Monday.
Gooding said the company uses the proper protective gear needed to keep employees safe when handling work materials near the ore dryer baghouse.
Circuit Court Judge Billy Joe Landrum issued sanctions last week excluding eight expert witnesses and one corroborating-employee witness for DuPont’s defense in the Strong case.
According to Landrum’s order, DuPont “deliberately avoided” the depositions of its witnesses by not giving Strong’s attorneys an opportunity to interview them before the trial.
DuPont attorneys filed an appeal with the state Supreme Court on Friday, asking to have the sanctions reversed, and issue a “stay order” to delay the trial until witnesses can be deposed.
Strong’s attorneys filed a response Monday to DuPont’s request, asking the state’s high court to uphold Landrum’s ruling and deny the appeal.
Jury selection in the first trial is set for 9 a.m. Wednesday, in Laurel.
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