Paw Paw suit filed against Coca-Cola

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - A property damage lawsuit has been filed against the Coca-Cola Company on behalf of 80 current and former Paw Paw residents who say their homes have been damaged by years of soil contamination.

The firm Weitz & Luxenberg announced the lawsuit, which was filed in Van Buren County, Tuesday. It charges Coca-Cola with contaminating Paw Paw's drinking water with chemical pollutants that have migrated onto plaintiff's properties from the company's Minute Maid facility on Red Arrow Highway.

Coca-Cola has sprayed waste water onto the soil for more than 30 years, according to the seven-county complaint. That pollution has affected the nearby groundwater, which shows detectable levels of heavy metals including arsenic, lead, iron and manganese.

People in the community also have also reported health issues, including gastrointestinal, kidney and central nervous system disorders.

Coca-Cola officials have been aware of the problems in Paw Paw for at least 10 years, as the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality has fined the company for its pollution practices, according to a news release from the firm.

The MDEQ fined Coca-Cola $50,000 when it violated its waste-discharge permit 10 years ago, according to state records.

In 2001, the company built a $7 million wastewater treatment plant, but it doesn't seem that cleaned up the groundwater.

More than 100 people gathered in April 2009 at Paw Paw High School to share their concerns with Robert Bowcock, the chief environmental expert for the Erin Brockovich team. He was there to assess if legal action is a viable option.

Brockovich became famous for helping prove a California company was contaminating residents' well water with cancer-causing agents, earning a settlement in excess of $300 million. A 2001 movie was made in her honor.

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On the Web:

Coca-Cola's statement (pdf)