Stardate 20010809.1202 (On Screen): This article discusses a lawsuit which happened in Texas. DuPont had a plant there and had a permit from the EPA to inject hazardous wastes deep into the ground. The rules involved in getting permission to do that include making sure that the wastes won't get into ground water or anywhere else that humans go for at least 10,000 years, and DuPont satisfied EPA that this would be the case. (More on this in a moment.) But a neighbor, a member of a well established and famous family (who literally had roots extending back to the revolution against Mexico) sued claiming that a leak had rendered their property less valuable, and asked for $173 million.
When you read the way that the case is originally described, it's easy to see why the plaintiff's attorneys thought they could shake down DuPont this way. But DuPont decided "millions for defense, but not one dime for tribute" and fought in court. One of critical points in the court case was that the wastes were being pumped into a salt-water aquifer some 4000 feet down, and that water was not only salty but also contaminated with arsenic. The wastes which DuPont was putting into it were much less hazardous than what was already naturally down there. So it was clear that this water wasn't getting into normal well water or the soil, because if it did the naturally-occurring arsenic in it would kill everything. DuPont fought not because they thought that this settlement would be a problem but because they feared that a settlement in this case would open them up to dozens of other similar lawsuits elsewhere. And DuPont won, even though all the cards were stacked against them. (discuss)
