More than 75 residents who live and work near a DuPont plant in northeastern Kentucky, including two police chiefs, have filed a federal lawsuit over an October chemical leak.
They say the sulfuric acid leak was responsible for a host of medical problems they suffered, from weakened eyesight to long-term respiratory problems.
Many of the people suing the Delaware company are police, fire and ambulance crews who evacuated people from the area surrounding the plant.
At least three lawsuits have been filed since late October alleging that the release of the chemical constituted "gross negligence, malice and willful disregard for the safety and well-being of the people in the area." The lawsuits ask for compensation of those injured and ask that a fund be established to monitor the health of residents.
Robert Ewald, a Louisville lawyer who represents DuPont, said he could not comment on the pending cases other than to say that DuPont regrets the spill happened. In court documents, DuPont is asking a federal judge to dismiss the claims.
DuPont had created a "reverse-911" system after a previous leak to notify people in a 10-county area of any problems at the Greenup County plant. But the system was not used on the afternoon of Oct. 11, 2004, when a break in a pipe released hundreds of pounds of sulfuric acid into the ground, air and water around the DuPont plant, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported on Wednesday.
Marcia Sayler, a staffer for the Kentucky Division of Emergency Management, said the reverse-911 system has had some minor setbacks but hopefully will be working soon in most counties. Some counties have had problems matching phone numbers with addresses, while other counties don't have enough phone lines for the system to work effectively.
"We've been working on this for several years, but the bugs still aren't worked out yet," Sayler said.
John Jeffries, plant manager of the Wurtland DuPont facility, said he called 911 and advised emergency workers of the leak, but said it is ultimately up to local emergency management to decide how to notify people outside of the plant.
Roger Russell, police chief of Greenup, said he blocked traffic on U.S. 23, less than mile from the plant.
"You could see the cloud above us," Russell said. "It covered quite a bit of area. It came up, mushroomed out and rolled back down on top of us."
Russell, who said his eyes started burning shortly after he arrived at the Chevron station, now wears glasses because of problems with his right eye. He has had headaches since the spill and had to have patches of skin taken off his face, he said.