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DuPont Reports Leaks In Landfill

DuPont Co. has reported two leaks in its Dry Run landfill in Wood County WV, that appear like small springs coming out of the ground and contain a large amount of a chemical used in the manufacture of Teflon, state Department of Environmental Protection records show.

DuPont reported the first of the two leaks in mid-June and the second in July. The leaks appear to have caused the concentration of the chemical C8 in the landfill's water discharge into Dry Run to nearly double, according to company records.

The DEP has not taken any steps to modify the company's water pollution or waste management permits to deal with the situation.

Since the 17-acre dump was opened in 1984 about four miles southwest of the community of Lubeck, DuPont has disposed of large amounts of C8-containing wastes there. By April 1990, DuPont tests confirmed that C8 was leaching from the landfill into Dry Run Creek at concentrations as high as 1.6 parts per million, more than 100 times the company's own limit for C8 in water of one part per billion.

C8, or ammonium perfluorooctanoate, has been used by DuPont since 1951 at its Washington Works plant south of Parkersburg. Its long-term effects on humans are unknown. A federal scientific review panel has said the chemical is "likely" to be a carcinogenic to humans.

The Washington Works plant is at the center of a class-action lawsuit involving the chemical. Ohio and West Virginia residents sued DuPont in 2001 alleging the Delaware-based company intentionally withheld and misrepresented information concerning the nature and extent of the human health threat posed by C8 in drinking water.

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