DuPont has done its own studies on death rates among workers at the plant, saying its studies prove C-8 has no definitive link to human disease.

The three-member science panel says it wants to study occurrence of disease rather than just death among workers.

The panel was created as part of a 2005 court settlement between DuPont and residents who say the company contaminated their drinking water.

Plaintiffs in the case filed a motion yesterday in Wood County Circuit Court asking Judge Arthur Gustke to order DuPont to allow the science panel to conduct a study of about 5,000 workers at the plant.

DuPont maintains no harm has been done to the community health or company employees by their long-term production of C-8, used in the manufacture of Teflon.