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State held off on AVX tests
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.
The S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control now knows that wasn't the case, and agency representatives say they should have been more insistent on testing rather than being swayed by the electronics manufacturer.
"It would have been nice if AVX had put in the off-site wells when they were requested," Carol Minsk, a DHEC geologist, told Myrtle Beach City Council on Tuesday.
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AVX might target air base
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.
Instead, AVX might go after the military to share in the environmental cleanup costs, Gilbertson indicated during a morning conference call with stock analysts.
The company reversed its decision regarding residents nine days after initial court filings asked a judge to hold those property owners responsible for some of the testing and cleanup costs.
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AVX says land values not tainted by pollution
Myrtle Beach-based AVX Corp. will ask a federal judge next month to dismiss damage claims in an environmental contamination lawsuit in which the manufacturer is accused of polluting groundwater with trichloroethylene, or TCE, a toxic chemical that has been linked with cancer and other health problems.
AVX, in court documents filed in advance of the Nov. 10 hearing in Florence, says the lawsuit should be dismissed because there is no evidence the contamination has created a financial hardship for neighboring property owner Horry Land Co., which first discovered the pollution more than two years ago.
Horry Land, which owns the property across the street from AVX's 17th Avenue South headquarters, is fighting the manufacturer's attempt to obtain a summary judgment in the case. Horry Land says the pollution has cost the company at least $5.4 million because its property now is worthless.
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Judge asked to drop AVX filing
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.
AVX, the source of toxic groundwater contamination in a 10-block Myrtle Beach neighborhood, asked a federal judge in court filings last week to force residents of that neighborhood to help pay for testing and cleanup costs that could top millions of dollars.
Surfside Beach lawyer Gene Connell said home owners near AVX's headquarters on 17th Avenue South had nothing to do with the company's contamination and the manufacturer's request should be dismissed.
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Forums to cover toxins at AVX
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.
The community forums will happen more than a year after DHEC first learned that trichloroethylene, an industrial degreaser, had spread beyond AVX's property on 17th Avenue South.
AVX knew about trichloroethylene, or TCE, contamination at its site since at least 1981, although the manufacturer didn't tell DHEC about the problem until 1995.
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