Ohio Woman Wins $1.6 Million in Pollution Damages

Carla Bartlett of Guysville won a three-week-long trial against chemical company DuPont in early October. Bartlett alleged that she developed kidney cancer following exposure to perfluorooctanoic acid, a chemical the company used and then dumped into the Ohio River at their Washington Works plant in Parkersburg, W.Va.

Bartlett is among approximately 3,500 people who claim illness related to the chemical plant, some of whom won a class-action lawsuit against DuPont in 2001. DuPont plans to appeal the recent decision. — Eliza Laubach