“GREENVILLE, N.C. (Legal Newsline) – A major chemical company has filed a motion asking a federal court to dismiss a lawsuit claiming it polluted a North Carolina river, causing sickness and property damage to those living near its banks.
E. I. Du Pont De Nemours and Co., commonly known as DuPont, and The Chemours Co. FC LLC, are alleged to have discharged chemicals into the Cape Fear River and failed to disclose it…
The motion argues that the class action complaint ‘rests on a mistaken premise: the premise that any discharge of chemicals into the environment creates tort liability. To be actionable, however, a discharge of chemicals must cause the plaintiff to suffer actual harm,’ the company states.
‘This requirement dooms plaintiffs’ complaint, which is long on accusations of deception and misconduct (accusations that defendants strongly deny), but short on assertions of cognizable injury or causation.’
The company further argues that the complaint claims three of the four plaintiffs have physical ailments but do not allege that GenX or another chemical discharge caused those ailments…
The plaintiffs said they have claimed causation, stating that the complaint alleges that the PFC pollution was the ‘direct and proximate’ cause of the ailments.
DuPont and Chemours further argue that the particular chemical product has not been regulated by the government and therefore the companies cannot be held liable for any property damage. The plaintiffs state the companies have a common law duty to not contaminate the water supply and the fact there is no regulation does not matter.”
Read the full article by John Breslin