AVX contamination investigation

A state agency has found no elevated occurrences of cancer linked to trichloroethylene in the Myrtle Beach neighborhood where AVX Corp. contaminated groundwater with the chemical.

John Gilbertson, AVX Corp.'s chief executive officer, said Thursday his company will not seek money from residents of a neighborhood where the manufacturer has contaminated groundwater with a toxic chemical.

The lawyer representing Myrtle Beach residents in an environmental contamination lawsuit against AVX Corp. has asked a judge to dismiss a court filing by the manufacturer that experts say is meant solely to intimidate property owners.

S.C. officials told AVX Corp. as long as eight years ago to test for groundwater contamination at property adjacent to the manufacturer's headquarters, but the state backed off after AVX said all contamination from its use of a toxic chemical had been contained on the company's land.

Myrtle Beach officials are investigating whether they can take legal action against AVX Corp. because the manufacturer secretly dumped water contaminated with a toxic chemical into the city's sewer system for more than a decade.

The state's Department of Health and Environmental Control will meet next week with Myrtle Beach residents to discuss toxic contamination in the groundwater near electronics manufacturer AVX Corp.'s facility, the agency said Wednesday.

Toxic contamination at the AVX Corp. facility in Myrtle Beach was kept secret for 26 years, and that has some environmental experts and residents questioning why state regulators never did anything to inform the public about a potential health risk.

A group of Myrtle Beach residents filed a class-action lawsuit Wednesday against AVX Corp., claiming the electronics manufacturer contaminated their property with a toxic chemical.

Groundwater contamination from the potentially dangerous chemical trichloroethylene has spread through at least a 10-block area of Myrtle Beach, environmental tests show, leading some experts to question whether the public's health might be at risk.

While TCE is a known health hazard, experts have disagreed about how much exposure causes problems. It also is difficult sometimes to draw direct correlations between TCE exposure and health problems because cancer and other diseases can take decades to develop. Other household goods and environmental factors also can contribute to health issues related to TCE exposure.

A federal judge on Thursday said two lawsuits that claim AVX Corp. ruined property values by polluting the groundwater in a Myrtle Beach neighborhood should be tried in an S.C. circuit court.

Dick Rosen has resigned from AVX Corp.'s board of directors, according to a regulatory filing this week.

Myrtle Beach-based AVX Corp. announced its revenue for the quarter ending Sept. 30 was up 7 percent over the same quarter last year to $400.7 million, according to a Thursday news release.

AVX Corp. on Friday withdrew its application for a permit that would have allowed the company to emit hazardous air pollutants at its Myrtle Beach headquarters, according to the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control.