Metro mother sues Water Gremlin, alleges company's negligence led to lung diseases
WHITE BEAR TOWNSHIP, Minn. -- A metro area mother and grandma is suing Water Gremlin over her lung disease.
WCCO first told you about the White Bear Township manufacturing plant being served with 95 civil lawsuits on Tuesday. Some of those suits are connected to cancer and wrongful death. Others allege a chronic illness caused by the plant's emission of a toxic chemical called TCE. Shelly Tripp is one of those people.
Tripp first noticed something was wrong in 2016.
"I was having unexplained coughs and pneumonia's and feeling rundown and didn't really have an explanation as to why these things were happening," Tripp said.
It persisted and progressed. Doctors eventually diagnosed her with what's called hypersensitivity pneumonitis and pulmonary fibrosis.
RELATED: MDH Assessment spells out health risk from chemicals released by Water Gremlin
It caused permanent damage and scarring on her lungs.
"The diagnosis that they gave me is a diagnosis they only give to people that've been exposed to something," Tripp said.
The 54-year-old lives near Water Gremlin. The White Bear Township manufacturing plant is responsible for releasing elevated and unsafe levels of a toxic chemical called TCE. Her civil suit against the company alleges her lung disease was caused in substantial part from TCE exposure and negligence of Water Gremlin.
"The company you thought was being a good neighbor, they stole my life," Tripp said.
Tripp is on oxygen full time. She says she went from being active to not being able to work and on disability. Her family exhausted their savings to pay for treatment and equipment. All the while, her lung function has continued to decrease.
"Unfortunately for me, this is just going to get worse for me," Tripp said.
She says it will eventually get to a point where they have to make some decisions.
"They basically tell you your only option is palliative care, so comfort measures, or a lung transplant," Tripp said.
For now, she's living. But what comes next is never far from her mind.
"You get little bit of bad news, you start to think about things that you're going to miss out on. Grandkids that you're not going to see graduate from high school," Tripp said.
MORE: Legislative Auditor: MN Pollution Control Agency did not inspect Water Gremlin as often as it should
Water Gremlin provided a statement to WCCO on Tuesday:
Water Gremlin first learned of the complaints this morning from the Schmidt-Salita Law Firm. Water Gremlin is carefully reviewing each of these claims. Nearly half of all Minnesotans will be diagnosed with a potentially life-threatening cancer in their lifetime. Water Gremlin has deep sympathy for all families experiencing this terrible disease
