Sensationalism Fueled Lawsuit Coverage
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Multiple news outlets including Fox13 Memphis reported on the federal lawsuit filed June 4. Reporter Mandy Hrach is pictured with two plaintiffs and their attorneys.
WATER VALLEY – Strong sensationalism fueled last week’s regional media coverage of the June 4 federal lawsuit filed in connection with a decades-old toxic spill at a former carburetor plant in Water Valley. Attorneys with Greenville-based Hollowell Law Firm filed the suit on behalf of eight former Holley Carburetor and/or BorgWarner employees who were exposed to trichloroethylene, or TCE, for years and reported serious health problems.
Mayor Tommy Reynolds stressed that transparency is vital to the residents in the city and businesses, and especially for the workers employed at the former carburetor plant and their families. But the mayor also noted that coverage from some media outlets was simply misleading.
“To paint the business district with a broad brush, to paint the residential areas of our city with a broad brush is not accurate,” Reynolds told the Herald. “They indicated that we have problems in areas where we do not have problems, which is the vast majority of the city.”
Citing details from a press release from Trial Lawyers for Justice, a national law firm associated with the June 4 lawsuit, the Clarion Ledger reported that the contaminated area includes the Water Valley business district and other areas of Yalobusha County.
The contaminated area, referred to as a plume, spans approximately 340 acres north and northwest of the plant where the toxic TCE was spilled. The chemical emanated from the original spill site at the plant and TCE levels are elevated in the soil and ground water, according to the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ).
Reynolds stressed that the plume does not extend into the vast majority of Water Valley’s business district along Main Street. The mayor also noted there is constant monitoring for TCE levels inside the plume.
“The impacted area is south of Otoucalofa Creek,” Reynolds said. “Our business district is north of the creek.”
Reynolds also stressed that testing is conducted routinely to check for TCE and other substances in the municipal water wells and there have been no problems.
“The water is certainly safe to drink,” Reynolds said.
Media coverage included a story from Fox13 in Memphis stating EnPro Industries illegally dumped toxic chemicals at the plant for five decades. Although the impact of TCE in the environment has been an issue for decades, it was used at the plant from 1972 to 1986, or approximately 15 years, according to the June 4 lawsuit.
Efforts started more than 30 years ago to reduce the level of TCE detected in the soil and groundwater with the installation of two groundwater extraction wells in the northern part of the plume that was expanding at that time, according to earlier reports in the Herald.
Coltec, the former owner of the plant, also excavated and treated 3,500 cubic yards of soil from the plant premises by a thermal “cooking” process.
Reynolds reached out to MDEQ officials asking if there are any current health risks to Water Valley residents from TCE chemicals.
Thomas L. Wallace, Division Chief for MDEQ’s Groundwater Assessment Remediation Division responded.
“No,” Wallace said. “Residents are on public water supply and there are no known off-site indoor air exposures.”
Wallace’s reference to off-site air exposures concerns vapor intrusion at areas away from the plant where the TCE spill occurred. Vapor intrusion is the process where vapors from underground solvents travel upward through the soil. The potential problem is TCE entering a home or residence as a vapor and be inhaled.
Wallace reported that soil gas sampling has been conducted in 2016, 2019 and 2022 to evaluate vapor intrusion pathways for potential indoor air exposures to residential and commercial buildings near the plant. Wallace said results from this sampling do not indicate potential for indoor air exposures from TCE contamination.
Yalobusha County Economic Development District CEO Kagan Coughlin reported MDEQ entered into an Agreed Order in 2016 with Enpro that requires Enpro to remediate TCE contamination in the plume.
Coughlin said a new recovery system was constructed on property owned by Yalobusha General Hospital near Frostland Drive that has been pumping and treating groundwater for the past three years.
Coughlin also said that EnPro entered into a contract with First Environment for the work and progress is being made with the remediation efforts as the level of TCE in the ground water in the plume is gradually declining. Coughlin also said that remediation on the south side of the plant started in March, the first effort working on the source of the plume.
“There will be a new report coming in a month or so,” Coughlin told the Herald. “They are working to establish a base line, that will help track new information about the levels going forward.”
Reynolds also asked MDEQ if there are any concerns connected to TCE about living, shopping, eating or doing business in the city.
“MDEQ has no concerns for living, eating, or doing business as it relates to the EnPro site. If anything regarding potential exposure to residents changes in the future, MDEQ will notify the city,” Wallace reported.
“The safety of the citizens of Water Valley is always our close concern, we will continue to work hand-in-hand with MDEQ and others to ensure that the public receive accurate and truthful information about this issue,” Reynolds added.
