PLAINFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) — Famed attorney Erin Brockovich is coming to Kent County to meet with property owners impacted by the toxic tap water investigation involving Wolverine Worldwide.
The announcement comes after three law firms filed the first federal class-action lawsuit against Wolverine in connection to a likely carcinogenic chemicaldiscovered in residential wells in and around Belmont, which could previously be found in the Scotchgard Wolverine used to waterproof shoes.
>>Inside woodtv.com: Complete coverage of the toxic tap water investigation
Scotchgard manufacturer 3M and Waste Management are also named as defendants in the 52-page lawsuit filed Friday, which also claimed Wolverine dumped toxic chemicals at the old Butterworth Landfill within Grand Rapids’ city limits.
Among other things, the twelve-count lawsuit alleges negligence leading to serious health problems, private and public nuisance because of the companies’ reckless behavior and product liability problems. The suit also claims battery, saying the companies “willfully, wantonly and recklessly” dumped toxic chemicals that directly harmed the plaintiffs.
Years ago, Brockovich came to Fennville to fight on the behalf of six families suing Birds Eye Foods for contaminated well water. The problem was traced back to a company plant, which had been spraying waste water on nearby fields.
Brockovich will join the three law firms behind the class-action lawsuit for a public meeting the week of Dec. 11. Details are still being worked out, but will be posted on the websites for Miller Law, Weitz & Luxenberg and Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP.
Eight other individual lawsuits have already been filed against Wolverine, and lawyers say there will likely be more.
Wolverine has already offered to foot the bill for whole-house water filtration systems for hundreds of homes in Plainfield and Algoma townships where contamination has been detected.