Dow Chemical will have to defend itself against lawsuits filed by families that live down river from its Midland plant. They say Dow is liable for contaminating their property with dioxin.
Dioxin is highly toxic and has been linked to immune system problems and cancer.
The appeals court rejected Dow’s attempt to have the lawsuits thrown out. This ruling deals with one of 43 lawsuits that are part of litigation going back more than a decade. But the precedent can be applied to the rest of the cases.
The chemical company said the lawsuits were filed too late, and the plaintiffs failed to show a specific harm to them. But the court said the family met the three-year window after 2002, when the state warned people living along the Tittabawassee downriver from Dow that dioxin was in the soil of the floodplain and they should keep their children away. The families say that also made it much harder to sell their homes, and reduced their property values.
Dow can appeal the decision to the Michigan Supreme Court.