×

C8 meeting features member of famous family

PARKERSBURG – A discussion on C8 exposure and its place as a national environmental issue took place Wednesday at the Blennerhassett School auditorium.

One of the attorneys involved in the continuing litigation is Robert Kennedy Jr., who has worked on many environmental cases across the U.S. He is the nephew of President John F. Kennedy and son of Robert F. Kennedy.

In West Virginia, Kennedy was involved in mountain top removal mining and the settlement reached in the case against DuPont related to cleanup of a former facility in Spelter, Harrison County.

Attorney Harry Deitzler, whose law firm has worked on the C8 issue since 1998, said Kennedy’s actions as an environmental advocate have made a difference.

Kennedy said as an environmental advocate there is no such thing as Republican children or Democratic children. He said the issue is to preserve the country’s environmental infrastructure for the children.

“It’s a national issue,” he said. “It’s an issue about the moral obligation we have to our children; we’re not protecting the environment for the sake of the fishes and the birds; we are protecting it because we recognize that nature is the infrastructure for our communities.”

The C8 cases amounted to deception about the release of the chemical from DuPont’s Washington, W.Va.. plant, he said. Kennedy said DuPont was aware of the dangers in the late 1950s and memos between attorneys for DuPont urged the company to come forward about the danger of the chemical, calling it their moral obligation.

NEWSLETTER

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *

Starting at $4.15/week.

Subscribe Today