http://classaction.disqus.com/News & information on class action lawsuits and other civil litigation.enMon, 23 Apr 2012 14:54:59 -0000https://www.classaction.org/ground-water-contamination#comment-507098338<p>My mother died from renal cell carcinoma at the age of 70 in 1998. Until that time she was a healthy, active female who was rarely sick. She did not smoke, did not drink, exercised 3 times a week, played about 18 holes of golf twice a month, stayed away from fried foods, was not over weight and limited her salt intake. When she died from kidney cancer I found out that that there are 2 types of kidney cancer - genetic and environmental. NO one in my entire family ever had kidney cancer so I believe it was from environmental factors. On April 17, 2012, I saw the article regarding the probable link of drinking water and kidney and testicular cancer in Washington, WV. May mother lived in Cross Lanes, WV, for 50 years about 5 miles from a Monsanta Plant which has been cited for putting many contaminents in the drinking source. PFOA or C8 has been directly linked to cancer in patients who drank water from a Dupont plant in the Washington, WV plant. My question is - did Monsanto use PFOA or C8 at their plant in 1998 and did it get into the water source that my mother was drinking? She drank city water from her house. If anyone could direct me in the right direction or tell me who I could call to get some information it would greatly be appreciated. Thanks.</p>Connie SmithMon, 23 Apr 2012 14:54:59 -0000https://www.classaction.org/ground-water-contamination#comment-449135855<p>We moved to Hemet Ca. in Feb. 2009. In June of 2008 our dog, Harley had a complete checkup and was clear of any ailments or problems what so ever. But that was just routine, we took impeckable care of our dog from the moment she was born she was always current in all her shots/vaccines and annual exams, whatever, she never even so much as had a flea on her. <br>Well, after 1 1/2 years of living in Hemet, CA. our dog had to be put to sleep because of cancer (read below for complete vet test results below). She was only 7 years old. Here's our story;</p><p>In 2009 it was hot in Hemet, CA. and it only got hotter in 2010. For weeks at time the temperatures reached well over 100 degrees, at times it got as hot as 113 degrees for days at a time. Harley had been drinking a lot of water as dogs do when it's hot outside. Then sometime in the month of Aug. 2010 Harley started breathing heavy, just every now and then, here and there, and we noticed her consuming a lot more water, we figured it was because of the record temperatures. After about a month her breathing started getting heavier and heavier, but it was still pretty hot in Hemet. We were fixing to sell our house so we were very busy getting things ready so we could put it on the market. We were also busy filling out, and filing court documents in order to evict the squatters we had living in our back studio apt.</p><p>Our monthly revenue relied on our renters paying their rent. The people renting our studio apt. out behind our house, had not paid us any rent for several months, so we could not pay the house bills.</p><p>Early in the month of Sept. 2010 the City of Hemet came out to our house and turned off our water.</p><p>We started buying bottled water for us and our dog to drink. But we found out fast, that in order for us to put our house up for sale, we had to have running water in it, so our realtor paid our water bill and then she put our house on the market. Within 2 days of our water bill payment, a Hemet City employee came out to our house and turned our water back on.</p><p>At that time my husband and I went outside to chat with the city employee regarding their tactics and to vent to him our thoughts about, how outrageously expensive the Hemet water was, in that area. I mean, come on, we had a water bill in the area of $630.00 in a 2 month period. We only had a 2 bdr. house, and a small studio apt. out in the back. We never once, ever, in the year and a half we lived in that house, ever watered our lawn. I had a pile of dirty clothes the size of MT. Washmore, that I had to pack, because we could not afford to wash our clothes due to the high cost of Hemet City water.</p><p>A few minutes into our conversation with the city employee, the man turned to us and came right out and said " the Hemet City water is contaminated, it contains parasites. It's not safe to drink". He continued to say; he didn't drink it, and he suggested that we stop drinking it as well. My husband and I were shocked, and to be honest, neither my husband nor I expected the man to say that. At this point I felt fearful, kind of scared, and then I started recalling all the times I had noticed how dingy the tap water looked. I didn't know what to say, so I just turned around and went into our house.</p><p>My husband and I are not big water drinkers, we drink juice or soda, but very little water, straight out of the tap. And after that day, we didn't even want to touch the tap water, let alone drink it. And we never gave it to our dog again.</p><p>Our house sold before the end of Sept. 2010. On Oct. 1, 2010 Harley woke up that morning with a lump on her side, the size of a small eggplant. We immediately took her to the Hemet Animal Hospital. Within 4 hours of Harley waking up with that lump on her side she had to be put to sleep due to her severe case of cancer! I was and still am convinced that she contacted that cancer from the Hemet City water.</p><p>I submitted this story to as many environmental sites that I could find on the Internet, and yes to the Riverside County Water District as well, because Hemet is part of the County of Riverside, CA.. Within a week of my complaint, a man from Riverside County Water District was at my front door. He had a huge log book in his hands and he tried to convince me that the Hemet water was safe for drinking, he stated that the Hemet water was tested 22 times a week for any kind of contaminates or harmful.... whatever.</p><p>I told him to take his little log book back to his office and try to figure another way out, because I wasn't buying his BS! I also told him what I was told by that Hemet City employee and I told him, I believed it to be true. I told him tests of any kind, can be modified to suit any purpose, and that the mere fact that he was standing before me within a weeks' time of my complaint made me believe that he in fact, was trying to cover something up.</p><p>If there was no problem with the water, then why would the County of Riverside take the time to come all the way out to my house to convince me of that? I am just 1 person making a complaint, why would they waste time on me? If it was not true then what did they fear? I felt it was because they didn't want anyone else getting involved, they wanted to keep me quiet, they wanted to try to convince me there wasn't anything to worry about.</p><p>I continued to say "you work for the City of Riverside Water District, Hemet is a part of that district. The company you work for is who I am complaining about, so of course, to get me off your back, your going to come out here and try to divert my attention by showing me your "log books" which do not prove anything to me".</p><p>He, of course asked me the name of the city employee who gave me the information about the harmful water? I asked him how stupid he thought I was, and did he actually think, I would jeopardize the city employees career, not to mention my source, before I could have someone such as the EPA check into it? Then I told him, I would never give up until I exposed, what I was told, and believed to be true. Then I asked him to leave.</p><p>We moved out of that house before the end of Oct. 2010. But to this day I am still very, very heart broken about having had to put our beautiful Harley Girl Dawg to sleep, in my heart,and deep in my soul I know, I feel that our dogs cancer came from the Hemet Water she had been drinking so much of. If the water can do this to a dog, then it's killing people and other animals as well! I wonder about how many cases of cancer that have killed people in that city, and if those people may have gotten cancer due to the drinking water.</p><p>HEMET ANIMAL HOSPITAL TEST RESULTS:</p><p>The vet said; "Upon necropsy the mass in the mammary glands had multifocal mineralizations a necrotic (dead tissue) core and was likely a mixed inflammatory mammary carcinoma, a very malignant cancer. There were similar mineralization's throughout the lungs. Harley also had a mucometra, or abnormal fluid in her uterus. And that it would LIKELY lead to an infection of her uterus. She had cystic endometrial hyperplasia and ovarian cysts and that her gall bladder was distended with sludge". Then they strongly suggested that she be put down immediately!</p><p>I have looked into things that water contamination can cause and I have found that what happened to Harley could be directly, linked to contaminated water consumption. I truely believe it was the water that caused our dog to come down with cancer. It happened so fast and it was so severe, that she could not be saved.</p><p>6 months before we moved to Hemet she had a complete physical checkup ( I have all her paperwork) and she had a clean bill of health, on 06/30/2008. Within 1 1/2 years of being in Hemet she had to be layed to rest due to cancer.</p><p>Harley meant the world to us, she was the best dog we had ever had, we love her as if she was our child. She was healthy and strong and spirited and beautiful, just before we moved to Hemet, CA. I still cry for her. I vowed that, no matter how long it takes, I would find out the truth about the water in Hemet, CA. I would find out if it in fact unsafe to drink.</p><p>I keep thinking about how many people that have or are dieing of cancer in and around the Hemet area, and I can't help but wonder if it isn't the water they are drinking that is killing them.</p>TammySun, 26 Feb 2012 01:45:58 -0000https://www.classaction.org/ground-water-contamination#comment-348163078<p>MY HUSBAND AND I ARE RENTING AND THE SEPTIC HAS NOT BEEN CLEANED OUT FOR OVER 12 YEARS, I HAVE BECOME VERY ILL, GONE TO EMERGENCY ROOMS, THIS IS PREVELANT IN WINTER MORE THAN SUMMER. I THOUGHT I HAD ALLERGIES WHICH I NEVER HAD PRIOR. I HAD LEISONS ON MY LEG AND CALF AND WAS PUT ON STERIODS,PAIN KILLER, ANTIBIOTICS AND VARIOUS OTHER DRUGS. THE DOCTORS WERE GUESSING AS TO THE PROBLEM, EVEN THE BLOOD WORK DIDNT HAVE AN ANSWER. AFTER LENGHTLY STUDY I AM CONVIENCED THIS IS THE PROBLEM</p>RAYNELLAFri, 28 Oct 2011 08:35:38 -0000https://www.classaction.org/ground-water-contamination#comment-219944567<p>i was station at camp lejuene north carolina and i was informed that the water where i was at the time was contaminated i also lived in a area of virginia the city of hopewell va knowen as the Chemical Manufacturing Plants of the south<br>.about 18 mounts ago i found out i had liver cancer and hep c and cerross of the liver i also i was wondering if that could have a factor in the problem at hand</p>Williamking56Tue, 07 Jun 2011 09:27:33 -0000https://www.classaction.org/ground-water-contamination#comment-198475121<p>Isnt this what the movie Erin Brockovich is about Or am I mistaken.</p>GorgeWed, 16 Mar 2011 11:46:08 -0000