Apr 6, 2015 3 min read

A West Virginia attorney overseeing the cleanup of toxins found inside houses in Spelter, W.Va., where a zinc plant operated for nearly a century, is looking for residents living near the former U.S. Steel plant in Donora who want testing to be performed in their homes.

Attorney Michael Jacks visited Donora last month after researching the borough’s deadly smog event in 1948 and began looking into the history of the plant’s zinc spelter furnace.

“I’m not sure if there is any basis for concern in Donora, but I would like to research it,” Jacks said.

Jacks is looking for 10 to 20 volunteers living within a mile of where the plant was once located at the current Donora Industrial Park along the Monongahela River to have testing performed inside their homes and pull small soil core samples for examination. An independent contractor would take “wipes” of surfaces in a home’s attic and basement before the sample would be tested for heavy metals such as zinc, cadmium, arsenic and lead.

“They’re called heavy metals for many reasons,” Jacks said. “Once they’re out in the environment, they don’t move around very much.”

The results of the “research phase” could result in a more extensive investigation, Jacks said. He added it’s too early to determine whether a class-action lawsuit could follow.

U.S. Steel operated a zinc works in Donora for four decades before the plant was closed and eventually demolished in the 1960s and absorbed into the then-new Donora Industrial Park. The zinc mill was announced in 1915, and it soon became the world’s largest such manufacturing plant.

The plant would go on to make Donora a symbol for environmental efforts after a deadly smog over a Halloween weekend killed more than 20 people in the borough and nearby Webster, spurring the nation’s first clean-air legislation.

Jacks met with Donora Historical Society last month to discuss testing homes and soil for toxins in the Donora area, said the society’s archivist, Brian Charlton.

“Our interest is purely scientific and historic,” Charlton said.

Donora Mayor Don Pavelko said last week he was unaware of the testing, but he was interested to learn more about the study.

The attorney is currently overseeing a $70 million class-action settlement with DuPont in Spelter, W.Va. – located about 35 miles southwest of Morgantown – to have toxins removed from homes and perform ongoing medical examinations. DuPont operated the zinc plant in that area from 1915 until 2001, prompting a lawsuit that lasted for nearly seven years before it was settled in 2011.

More than 6,000 people are involved in the ongoing medical screenings there, with another 1,200 residents filing claims to have their properties cleaned.

“I don’t know if houses in Donora would also contain similar hazardous dust, but I think it is possible,” Jacks said.

Any residents who are interested in having their homes tested can call Jacks at 304-622-7443 or email him at mjacks@gtandslaw.com.

Staff writer Scott Beveridge contributed to this report.