DuPont C-8 a/k/a "PFOA" or "Perfluorooctanoate Acid" Litigation

By order of the Wood County Circuit Court, a class action was certified for the benefit of persons directly impacted by C-8 water contamination emanating from the local DuPont facility. Those people are the beneficiaries of the class action settlement (Leach et al v. E. I. Du Pont De Nemours and Company) in the Circuit Court of Wood County, West Virginia at Parkersburg. Two West Virginia law firms and one Ohio firm were the only law firms designated as class counsel to represent the affected persons. Those law firms are Hill Peterson Carper Bee & Deitzler PLLC of Charleston, WV, Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP of Cincinnati, OH, and Winter & Johnson PLLC (formerly Winter Johnson & Hill PLLC) of Charleston, WV. No other attorneys or law firms are involved in the litigation, or approved by the court as class counsel.

You are, or are not, a class member based upon the court’s order which created the class. It is not necessary, or possible, for anyone else to “join” the class action. The court’s order provides that all persons who were provided water by any of the six affected water districts (or specified wells within those districts, including DuPont's Washington Works Plant) for a year or more prior to December 3, 2004, are automatically members of the class action for which we were appointed by the court to be class counsel. The (only exceptions are individuals who chose to "opt out" of the class action within the original timeframe as allowed by the court before the final settlement was approved.) The affected water districts are: Little Hocking, Belpre, Tuppers Plains, and Pomeroy in Ohio, and Lubeck and Mason County in West Virginia.

The three law firms designated by the court are currently accepting clients among the class action members for whom we will pursue potential damage claims arising from diseases which are linked to C-8 exposure among class members. On October, 2012, the C-8 Science Panel concluded its probable link findings which determine whether or not you have a right to pursue a claim under the class action. For a full list of the Science Panel’s probable link findings, go to http://www.hpcbd.com/C8ProbableLink.html If you have already contacted us and returned a client contract, we will soon be updating your individual case so that we can pursue your claim if you qualify. If you believe that you may be affected by a C-8 related disease, but have not yet contacted us, you may do so by email or telephone.

A probable link finding by the C-8 Science Panel determines whether or not C-8 can cause the linked disease. If you are a class member suffering from a disease linked to C-8 by the Science Panel, we can pursue a compensation claim on your behalf. When you choose to employ us, we will use our 11 years of C-8 experience, research, and material from this class action in an effort to prove specific C-8 causation of the disease in your individual claim at the appropriate time. Under the existing court order, no claims could be pursued until the C-8 science panel finished its work. Because there is no certainty of recovery, we work for clients on a contingent fee basis. If we pursue the claim on your behalf and there is no recovery, you pay us no fees and repay no costs.

Aside from the compensation claims that we will pursue for our qualified clients, to the extent that your past exposure to C-8 water contamination remains a concern, all class members in the affected water districts will soon be entitled to whatever medical monitoring (testing) is deemed appropriate to watch for signs of C-8 related disease. Because Dupont put the dangerous chemical in your water without your permission or knowledge, any such medical monitoring will be paid for by Dupont. More information will become available on that topic after the court-approved C8 medical panel outlines the protocols for appropriate medical monitoring.

Thank you for your interest in the ongoing C-8 litigation. Hopefully this website will provide you with significant public information regarding C8 and related litigation. If you have additional questions, please feel free to contact us directly. You are certainly welcome to consult with any attorney of your choice, but it is not necessary to employ outside counsel. We will accept referrals from other law firms.

If you feel that we may be of service to you, please email or call us. The interview and call are free and without any obligation on your part whatsoever.

This section of the law firm website is intended to provide only a very general overview of the law, facts, and issues involved in C8 related litigation, and it is not intended to be a substitute for an experienced legal opinion based upon the individual facts of your case. It should not be construed as legal advice. If you have questions about the legal implications of a potential C8 claim, please e-mail or call the law firm of HILL, PETERSON, CARPER, BEE & DEITZLER, PLLC, with respect to the individual facts of your particular case.

The fact that any person visits this website, reads information on this website or its associated links, or contacts this law firm by e-mail or telephone, does not create an attorney/client relationship nor any obligation between law firm and the site visitor or caller. To create an attorney/client relationship and mutual obligations, the law firm and the client will first enter into a written attorney/client agreement.

Regardless of whether or not an inquirer becomes a client of this law firm, as class counsel we understand and agree that all calls or communications submitted to the law firm by persons who are members of the C8 settlement class (as defined by the court) regarding C8 questions are confidential, and any such calls, e-mails, or communications shall remain confidential unless the submitting party directs or agrees otherwise.