Food Plant Lawsuit

WTAP News, Denise Alex
Published May 12, 2005

A $36 million deal to build a frozen food plant in Parkersburg and employ up to 600 people fell apart because the plant's proposed water supply is possibly contaminated by a chemical used to make Teflon. That's according to a lawsuit filed by Luigino's Incorporated. The Minnesota-based company is suing the West Virginia Economic Development Authority over the scuttled 2002 agreement that would have landed a 180,000 square foot processing and distribution facility at the Parkersburg Business Park. Luigino's contends that the agency breached the agreement by failing to reveal that a class-action lawsuit had raised warnings over the presence of perfluorooctanoic acid, known as PFOA, or C-8, in the local water supply. C-8 causes cancer in laboratory animals and lingers in the environment. Intensive government and industry studies are under way to determine if exposure increases human cancers, reproductive problems or other health disorders. The lawsuit says Luigino's was forced to cancel its plans because of the "stigma of significant contamination." The Luigino's facility, which was to have been located near Pettyville, would have used water from the city of Parkersburg, which has never been shown to contain C-8. Mayor Jimmy Colombo tells WTAP-TV the city did everything possible to get Luigino's to come to Parkersburg. WTAP-TV also contacted Clarence Cox the utlilty manager for the city of Parkersburg for his thoughts on the lawsuit. He says he cannot comment because he is unaware of the situation.