DuPont wants handwritten documents from 8,500 plaintiffs

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- The chemical giant DuPont now wants the 8,500 people who brought a pollution case against the company to provide it with handwritten documents.

According to The Associated Press, DuPont has asked Harrison County Circuit Judge Thomas Bell to order every plaintiff in the class-action lawsuit -- potentially worth millions of dollars -- to answer questions about where they lived and for how long and whether they have read news coverage of the case.

Bell ruled last month that the retrial of part of the case involving the alleged contamination of a Harrison County community by the company will start March 7. He also rejected DuPont's request that the retrial be moved from Harrison County because of local publicity.

The March trial will focus on whether the lawsuit was filed in a timely manner.

DuPont is alleged to have released cadmium, arsenic and lead from one of its smelters into the community of Spelter, just north of Clarksburg.

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