Dive Brief:
- Two class-action lawsuits have been filed against General Mills in relation to recent findings that soil beneath homes near a former research facility is leaking vapors contains high levels of trichloroethylene, commonly called TCE.
- TCE, an industrial solvent, has been linked to cancer and other health problems. TCE was used at the plant from the 1940s through the early 1960s.
- The lawsuits allege that some 200 homes are being subjected to the vapors. State-ordered tests have detected troubling levels of TCE in multiple homes in the area. More tests are being conducted. General Mills is installing ventilators in homes where the vapor is detected.
Dive Insight:
If there's good news to be found in this story it is that at this point in history the world has developed a fair amount of expertise in dealing with the environmental damage caused by industrial practices of the post-WWII era. Whether it's clean-up teams that have worked on superfund sites before, contractors with radon-mitigation expertise who can install detectors and ventilators, or environmental law attorneys skilled at uncovering the paper trails that point to poison in the ground, America has gotten pretty good at this sort of thing. Here's hoping that the Minneapolis site turns out to be less scary than it might seem at first, and that very little of that abundant expertise will be needed to deal with it.
