District of Columbia v. Velsicol

Reference :

No description

Complaint date :

October 13, 2022

Status :

Not judged

Place of jurisdiction :

United States, District of Columbia (DC)

Plaintiffs types :

Local authorities

Plaintiffs names :

District of Columbia

Defendants :

Velsicol Chemical LLC

Lawyers for Health and Environmental Justice :

No description

Case nature :

Civil court

Specificities :

Jury

Type(s), Product(s), Active substance(s) :

, Organochlorine, Chlordane

Requests :

Damages for injury to the District’s natural resources, including the economic impact to the District and its residents from loss of ecological services or other injuries resulting from the conduct alleged herein; An award of past, present, and future costs to investigate, assess, analyze, monitor, and remediate the contamination; Civil penalties… A declaratory judgment that the Defendant is liable for future costs related to the investigation, remediation and removal of chlordane...

Name of the Court :

Superior Court of District of Columbia (DC), United States

Jurisdiction level :

Summary :

The District of Columbia filed a lawsuit against chemical manufacturer Velsicol for violating DC environmental laws by contaminating local waterways and natural resources with chlordane, a toxic, cancer-causing chemicals for decades, harming the health and safety of low-income Black and brown District residents. The complaint alleges that Velsicol produced a pesticide that contained chlordane and marketed it to low-income homeowners in the city from 1945 to 1988, until it was banned for sale in the U.S. by the EPA over health effects in humans, including tremors, convulsions and cancer. Moreover, it says that Velsicol knew since 1959 that chlordane could cause cancer, yet still sold products that contained it. Chlordane continues to widely contaminate the District’s natural resources, including its waters. On Jan. 23, 2023 DC Superior court rejected Velsicol’s argument that it can't be held liable for its predecessor's actions and ruled that the company can't escape the lawsuit.

Scientific references :

No scientifice reference for this case.