U.S. Water News Online
PITTSBURGH -- Environmental groups and residents in some western Pennsylvania communities have filed a lawsuit saying toxic wastes from old dump sites have contaminated wells and hurt property values.
Two groups -- Citizens for Pennsylvania's Future and Small Towns Opposed to Polluted Sites -- announced the filing of the lawsuit in federal court and asked that the dump sites dug in the 1950s and '60s be cleaned up. The lawsuit also seeks damages.
The groups are suing Beazer East, which took over Koppers Co., a company that operated a plant that produced adhesives in the Petrolia area, about 45 miles north of Pittsburgh. The lawsuit alleges the company disposed of wastes from the plant at several sites where no liner or cover was in place to keep contaminants from getting into the groundwater and into a tributary of the south branch of Bear Creek.
About 850 homes and businesses in Petrolia and surrounding communities have been using bottled water for almost a year, because the state Department of Environmental Protection said groundwater should not be consumed. The water showed traces of sulfonic acid, a byproduct of manufacturing petroleum products, and resorcinol, an adhesive material produced by Koppers for use in products ranging from cosmetics to tires, state officials said.
Citizens for Pennsylvania's Future, also known as PennFuture, and the second group told the state agency, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Beazer East about a year ago that they intended to sue.
``While DEP acted immediately after receiving our notice last year by distributing bottled water and starting the process of constructing a public water system for the area, Beazer refuses to take any responsibility whatsoever,'' said George Jugovic, a lawyer for PennFuture.
Besides distributing bottled water, the Environmental Department has been looking into extending municipal water service from some nearby communities. A department spokeswoman said the agency provides bottled water to about 700 families and businesses and Beazer East is providing the rest.
Cindy Ekis, one of the founders of Small Towns Opposed to Polluted Sites, or STOPS, also was named as a plaintiff in the lawsuit, saying she has had to limit the number of showers her children take, refrain from raising vegetables in her yard and end some outdoor activities.
``While we're no longer drinking contaminated water, my kids and everyone else are showering, washing clothes and doing dishes in this permanently contaminated water,'' she said. ``Our property is virtually worthless now. Who would buy a house where the water is contaminated?''
The lawsuit claims violations of the federal Clean Water Act as well as the state's Clean Streams Law and Hazardous Sites Cleanup Act.
It asks that the dump sites be brought into compliance and penalties be levied against the company. It also asks that the company be required to conduct a public health survey and cover the costs of any damage done to private property.
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