Eric Douglas Published

Hearing On Carbide Landfill Scheduled For Federal Court

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Union Carbide Corp. operated a landfill along Davis Creek in South Charleston from the 1950s through the early 80s. Now tests show chemicals have been leaking into ground and surface waters.

Last month, Courtland Corp. filed a motion for a temporary restraining order against Union Carbide over potentially toxic materials leaking from the Filmont Landfill. Courtland owns land next to the landfill.

Senior U.S. District Judge John T. Copenhaver, of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia has scheduled a hearing on the motion for the Temporary Restraining Order for tomorrow at 10 a.m.

Mike Callaghan, Courtland’s attorney, wants Carbide to deploy short-term solutions to fix the problem immediately while developing a plan with the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection for a long-term solution.

“I feel like we’re representing the interests of the state of West Virginia and the citizens to get this cleaned up, because it’s going off-site to other places,” Callaghan said.

In a statement, Union Carbide said “denies all claims asserted against it by Courtland, including those asserted in the application for temporary restraining order. UCC does intend to oppose the application for temporary restraining order and will continue to vigorously defend itself. As this is ongoing litigation, UCC will not comment further at this time.”

West Virginia Public Broadcasting first intervened last summer to make documents related to this case public and will continue to follow this developing environmental story.