SC

Class Action Suit Filed Against Upstate Polluter

Remember the Hoechst-Celanese plant in Upstate, S.C.?  Of course not … it’s been a long time since it’s been on the public radar. The scandal surrounding this facility first broke open in December 2010, when WSPA TV 7 (Spartanburg, SC) did a three-part series entitled “Shadow of Sickness.” That series documented…

Remember the Hoechst-Celanese plant in Upstate, S.C.?  Of course not … it’s been a long time since it’s been on the public radar.

The scandal surrounding this facility first broke open in December 2010, when WSPA TV 7 (Spartanburg, SC) did a three-part series entitled “Shadow of Sickness.” That series documented the extensive environmental pollution that was allegedly caused by the facility – which was operated by the company from 1967 to 1998 near Cowpens, S.C.

As many as three dozen people may have died as a result of pollution associated with the  plant – most of them succumbing to various forms of cancer. Not only that, the contamination may have caused lasting environmental damage to the area – as well as communities located downstream from the location of the plant.

In August 2011, officials at the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control (SCDHEC) – then under the command of former commissioner Earl Hunter – publicly acknowledged that they knew hazardous waste was being released from the former Hoechst chemical facility in Spartanburg County. Yet they did nothing about it.

In fact, the agency apparently knew about the pollution for over a decade – and never warned anyone.

Now local residents want to make those responsible for the pollution pay …

Here’s the takeaway from a class action lawsuit filed last week in U.S. District Court in Spartanburg, S.C. against Hoechst Celanese Corporation …

For over 40 years, numerous corporate entities have polluted the groundwater of the Cannon’s Campground community and the surface water of the nearby Pacolet River and its tributary creeks by improperly handling and disposing hazardous chemicals that were either components or by-products of the polyester manufacturing process conducted at what is commonly referred to as the “Hoechst-Celanese” manufacturing plant and its neighboring facilities The extent of the pollution poses an imminent and substantial endangerment to the health of the members of the community and to the environment itself and was carried out—and is still being carried out—by the owners of the plant in violation of federal and South Carolina law.

The lawsuit seeks an order enjoining the plant from “continuing activities contributing to the contamination of the groundwater and surface water” and an order compelling Hoechst “to develop and implement an adequate delineation and remediation plan.”

It also asks for compensatory and consequential damages – as well as punitive damages – to be paid to residents who have joined the lawsuit.

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16 comments

scotty January 13, 2014 at 2:55 pm

Guess what they made, a health aide for your healthy cigarettes the filter material

Reply
Observant January 13, 2014 at 3:09 pm

At one time they also made a GREAT carpet fabric (Before NAFTA).

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euwe max January 14, 2014 at 3:23 pm

I blame Bush.

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1ChrisSharpton2 January 14, 2014 at 8:06 pm

Then shave it

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Jackie Chiles January 13, 2014 at 3:37 pm

Fits should be defending the manufacturer. Since when does big government get to tell a poor manufacturer what type of pollutants it can pump into the atmosphere. If people don’t want to breathe polluted air, they won’t buy the product. Amirite?

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OG January 14, 2014 at 5:43 pm

Are you adumbazz!!!! (AMIRITHE)

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lisa January 13, 2014 at 4:09 pm

Yeah!!! carpet is great!! How bout your back yard!! I lived there and my parents still do!! Everyone has cancer and if that is the price of great carpet…..I don’t need it.

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Philip Branton January 13, 2014 at 4:38 pm

……and the Informational Dominance on the pollution battlefield is what..??

We wonder if Wil Folks will take the time to do a little learning concerning the General Battery/ Exide Battery/ Homelite…….contaminant “field”. Talk about an ICEBERG…..

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euwe max January 14, 2014 at 3:22 pm

Republicans – listen up: “there *is* an environment” (Timmy on Christmas day)

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disqus_dcwFI0hvgS January 15, 2014 at 9:27 am

Yeah, Max, it’s all the republicans fault. democrats can crap on us for decades and they’re exempt from blame. This is most likely not a political problem, just one of greed.

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euwe max January 15, 2014 at 10:55 am

This is most likely not a political problem, just one of greed.

———
I hadn’t thought of that. And there’s one thing I know about Republicans – they don’t represent greed.

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Dirty Rivers January 14, 2014 at 5:38 pm

I can just hear the polluter’s defense: “DHEC didn’t care about it so we thought it was no big deal.”
I wonder if DHEC’s degree of culpability will be explored in the lawsuit?

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OG January 14, 2014 at 5:51 pm

Too heck with there produces! IF YOUR DEAD, HOW DO ENJOY THEM?
Money is the rute of all evle.

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kind of pissed off. January 16, 2014 at 3:11 pm

i want you people to know that i worked as a driver in this place for several years. i has changed names several time since it was hoechst celanese. personally, i did not witness any chemical spills anywhere on this plant. i am aware that in the past 30 or so years that there may have been some chemical spills that were covered up as there are some off limit areas in the property. i have a close friend whose mother recently passed away with cancer that live close to this place in cannons campground. im not saying that it was or was not the plants fault but when you start seeing the demographic area compared to cancer deaths in this region it makes you wonder what they actually did at this plant. remember, it was very expensive to dispose of daltherm and other chemicals in those days, so it was cheaper to bury the stuff and not say anything about it, maybe even pay off a few authorites to turn their heads.

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Bert Louthian January 16, 2014 at 6:01 pm

Environmental justice is important for all people, and the
litigation over pollution at Cannons Campground is unfolding quickly, bringing
into the light of day facts that need to be told. Additional updates on
the matter can be found here: http://www.louthianlaw.com/cannon-campground/.

Reply

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