A class action lawsuit has been filed against the electronics manufacturer claiming groundwater contamination. The lawsuit claims AVX Corp. knew about trichloroethylene, or TCE, contamination at its site since at least 1981, although the manufacturer did not tell the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) about the problem until 1995. In 2006, the DHEC first learned that the industrial degreaser had spread beyond AVX's property, but the lawsuit claims the company knew more than a year before informing the state department.
DHEC says the TCE has migrated from the AVX site through groundwater in a roughly 10-block neighborhood near the manufacturer. Groundwater under the vacant property across from AVX had TCE levels of 19,200 parts per billion. The federal government has set the maximum safe level at five parts per billion. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, TCE has been linked with cancer and other health problems, yet an AVX spokesman allegedly told residents the contamination is no threat to their health.
The lawsuit claims property around the company factory is worthless because residents cannot sell their homes as long as the contamination exists. The suit seeks to have AVX to pay landowners what their property would be worth without the contamination.
