Try to be a responsible Corporate citizen in WV

DUPONT bought land at Spelter, Harrison County, in 1899. A zinc smelter began operating at the site in 1910. Several companies used the site over the years, including DuPont, which operated it for 27 years. It sold the plant in 1950.

Longtime operator T.L. Diamond closed the smelter in 2001. Concerns arose over the levels of lead, cad-mium and arsenic at the site and in nearby waters.

Despite the fact that DuPont hadn't owned the plant in more than half a century, it sought ownership and assumed responsibility for remediation of the Spelter site, working with federal and state agencies to mitigate the environmental problems.

In 2004, attorneys, including one from Florida and one from Georgia, lined up 10 residents of Spelter and filed a class-action suit against DuPont.

In October, a Harrison County jury decided that DuPont had engaged in wanton, willful and reckless conduct and should pay $55 million to clean up private property, $196 million in punitive damages, and $130 million for 40 years of medical monitoring of the plaintiffs. That is to include CT scans every two years.

Harrison County Circuit Judge Thomas A. Bedell awarded the lawyers $135 million in fees, and approved $50,000 "incentive payments" for each of the 10 "lead plaintiffs."

http://www.dailymail.com/Opinion/Editorials/200807240142