West Virginia Supreme Court Mulls Whether to Hear DuPont Case

The West Virginia Supreme Court is considering whether to hear an appeal by plaintiffs in a pollution case against DuPont.

Lawyers for plaintiffs who live near a former zinc-smelting plant in Spelter argue that Harrison County Circuit Judge Thomas Bedell erred in keeping 300 people out of a plan to clean up the property.

Bedell ruled in September that the residents were bound by settlements signed by the original land owners in 1928 with Grasselli Chemical Co., a forerunner of a DuPont chemical department.

Bedell’s ruling came in a lawsuit that alleged DuPont had for decades downplayed and lied about health threats from the site. Jury awards against DuPont from the the trial’s various phases totaled nearly $400 million.

Last week, the high court added the appeal to its motion docket.