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| By CHARLES SEABROOK |
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Monsanto Co. And its spinoof Solutia
Inc. Agreed Wednesday to pay $700 million to settle
claims by more than 20,000 Anniston, Ala., residents
who say the chemical companies are responsible for
PCB contamination that has endangered their homes
and health.
The settlement, also funded by Pharmacia Inc., Pfizer
Corp. And the companies commercial insurers, will
end a longrunning trial in state court over decades-old
plllution from a chemical plant in the East Alabama
city. The agreement includes payments to homeowners
and money fot fund an array of health programs for
low-income residents in Anniston and surrounding
areas.
The deal averted a federal trial set for October
over contamination from PCBs- ploychlorinated biphenyls
- a once common electrical insulator banned in the
1970s because of health concerns.
In two lawsuits, thousands of Anniston-area residents
claimed their homes and their physical and mental
health were harmed by the PCBs produced in their
community. “I’m thrilled that it’s
been settled, because it’s been going on so
long,” said Sallie Bowie Franklin, 66, of
Anniston, on of the plaintiffs. “That company
knew it was doing us wrong.”... |
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TOXIC WASTE CHECKS ARE FINALLY
DISTRIBUTED
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 1996 B |
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Company settles suitby residents,
workers
Associated Press
HARLAN, Ky. Hundreds of Harlan County residents
who were exposed to cancer causing chemicals have
won sizable checks to settle their lawsuit against
the company that owns the plant that dumped the
waste.
Nearly all of the 550 people who took part in the
legal fight picked up their checks Saturday in Harlan
one day after U.S. District Judge Jennifer Coffman
approved a settlement in the long running case.
The case had pitted residents of Dayhoit and former
workers at the old National Electric Coil plant
against Cooper Industries of Houston, which bought
the plant in the 1980s.
The size of the settlement was not disclosed, but
plaintiffs had rejected an offer of $18.5 million
earlier this year. If evenly distributed, the rejected
figure would have yielded about $34,000 per plaintiff.
"It was a very nice day in Harlan,"
said Donna Holt, one of the lead attorneys for the
people who sued Cooper Industries. "It's a
milestone." The large sum of money has caused
a stir in Harlan County.
Barbara Slone, general manager of WTUK radio, said
car and mobilehome dealers had been advertising
heavily all week.
The settlement ends a long and sometimes frustrating
fight for the people who pushed for health and enviromental
testing as well as money to redress their risks.
"There's been a lot of hard work. a lot
of sleepless nights," said Joan Robinett, chairwoman
of Dayhoit Concerned Citizens Against Toxic Waste.
Robinette said some people involved in the suit
were pleased with the amount of money they got,
but some weren't.
"A lot of people had
mixed feelings, including me," she said.
The settlement, some of which went to the estates
of deceased people and some to trusts set up for
children, includes a special fund set aside to compensate
any of the 550 peopie who develop certain kinds
of cancer in the next 15
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years.
In agreeing to the settlement, Cooper Industries
did not admit wrongdoing.
National Electric Coil operated a Plant at Dayhoit
from 1951 to 1985, using solvents to clean industrial
machinery.
The plant reportedly dumped waste at the site and
into the Cumberland River for three decades. |
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| Rockwell's creek pollution tab:
$210 million |
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Associated Press
RUSSELLVILLE A jury awarded $210 million in punitive
damages to landowners who sued Rockwell Corp., claiming
their property was devalued by pollution from a
former Rockwell aluminum die casting plant.
The Logan Circuit Court jury, which reached its
verdicts Friday after an eightweek trial, also awarded
$8 million in compensatory damages.
"It was a grand slam home run," said Thomas
Noe III of Russellville, one of several attorneys
representing the plaintiffs. "I think it sends
a strong message to industry." Noe said Saturday
the award "certainly is among the highest"
ever awarded in a lawsuit in Kentucky, but he defended
its size.
"I think it was very reasonable based on the
amount of damage from this massive amount of pollution,"
Noe said.
William J. Calise, Rockwell senior vice president
and general counsel, said Friday the company would
appeal.
Noe said the pollution by polychlorinated biphenyls,
or PCBs, came from a hydraulic fluid that was discharged
in the 1970s into a creek flowing into the Town
Branch of the Mud River.
The plant was sold to BTR Precision Die Casting
Inc. in 1989.
The 49 plaintiffs in the case all own land along
the Mud River. Noe said individual compensatory
damages ranged from about $1,000 for the smallest
piece of land to about $600,000 for a large farm.
However, Noe said he expects an appeal by Rockwell
that would delay any award for some time.
"It could be another three years before we
go through all the appeals," he said. However,
he said a protracted appeal would be costly to Rockwell,
since interest would accrue at more than .2 million
per month.
California based Rockwell specializes in automation,
avionics, semiconductor systems, aerospace, defense
electronics and automotive component systems. It
has annual worldwide sales of $13 billion. |
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