Featured Case | Titanium Dioxide Plant

Contamination of a Community on the Mississippi Gulf Coast

The Mississippi Gulf Coast is known for its beautiful beaches, tranquil lifestyle, and neighborly residents. But since at least 1979, it has also been the home of a chemical plant that has spewed toxic chemicals into the air and water – toxins that have blanketed the surrounding communities and caused cancers and other diseases among its residents.

The DuPont DeLisle plant, located in Pass Christian, Mississippi, manufactures titanium dioxide, a pigment that is used in plastics, paints, and even food products to make them whiter and brighter. The chemicals used to manufacture titanium dioxide can be lethal if breathed or ingested. At the DuPont DeLisle plant, toxic substances including dioxins, arsenic, chromium, and nickel – all known to be cancer-causing agents – were released into the environment during the manufacturing process.

Baron & Budd represents more than 2,000 local residents who have developed cancer, neurological disorders, immune and reproductive system disorders, birth defects, and other illnesses from exposure to emissions from the plant. After nearly three years of litigation, which included the massive discovery of over a million pages of documents relating to operations at the plant, Baron & Budd took the first of these cases to trial in August 2005. The Friday before Hurricane Katrina ravaged the Mississippi Gulf Coast, a Laurel, Mississippi jury handed down a significant verdict for a U.S. Army veteran who was forced to leave his job as a deputy sheriff after being diagnosed with multiple myeloma, an incurable cancer caused by his exposure to toxic emissions from the plant. The case is currently on appeal. Baron & Budd is confident that this is just the first case of many that will vindicate the residents of this community and compensate them for the injuries they suffer through no fault of their own. To date, DuPont continues to deny the truth about its operations. Instead, DuPont actively engages in a misinformation campaign regarding the vast amount of cancer-causing agents generated by its titanium oxide plants.

 

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