Cheraw family sues textile plant over contamination

CHERAW, S.C. — George and Catherine Martin can point to exactly where DHEC took soil samples from their yard, and found hazardous PCBs, two years ago.

They put their home on sliding hill road up for sale, only two months before the shocking discovery of contamination of their property, where they've lived since 1990.

Only one person has come by to see their house since it was listed for sale.

"The house isn't worth anything anymore. The property isn't.  It's not gonna sell with PCBs here," George Martin said.

Now, they have filed a lawsuit against Highland Industries, the textile-based plant that sits just up the road on Highway 9.

Highland was once Burlington Industries, which allowed toxic chemicals to flow into a creek behind the plant in the 1960s and 70s.  Burlington filed for bankruptcy in 2001, but years earlier in 1988, it changed it's name to Highland.

PCBS are chemicals used in coolant and other processes in machinery.  They have been banned as a cancer-causing substance.   The PCBs were discovered in 2016 in a large ditch behind several homes near the plant.  In the spring of 2017, the EPA began a large scale clean up effort, digging up tainted soil and removing it from the backyards of several homes.

The clean up had since progressed from the plant down toward the Huckleberry Park area.  The creek runs through the park, and homes there are in a flood zone.   Then, in September, Hurricane Florence hit, and dumped 22 inches of rain.

Massive flooding, forced people from their homes, and sent contaminated debris and mud into houses near the creek.

The storm was a set back to the federal superfund clean up project, but it's not clear by how much.

The Martin's home sits on the end of a road that has flooded several times, carrying the toxic chemicals with it, out of a creek into their yard.

They are plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed Thursday.

The lawsuit alleges that the area:

--was seriously contaminated with high concentrations of PCBs, a toxic, cancer causing chemical

--the defendant knew or should have known the property was contaminated

-failed to take any removal action of the contamination

The plaintiffs want Highland to clean up the plant property, the creek, and their property, and are asking a jury to award actual and punitive damages.

Martin says it's been a nightmare since the discovery.  Having to tell every prospective buyer what's on their land, has them stuck.

"Everything we got is in this house. It (the lawsuit) seemed like the only thing we could do to get some compensation out of it," he said.

Channel 9 reached out to Highland Industries for comment Friday, but did not get a response by late afternoon.

Martin said, it's not just his home, or his problem.  This has been devastating for everyone nearby.

"The other people here are in just as bad shape as we are. Worse, because they got flooded," he said.

Several sources told Channel 9 Friday that more lawsuits are in the works over the contamination left behind in those neighborhoods.

The EPA clean up effort there is still going on as well.

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