Chemical Industry News SampleJan 30, 2006 12:00:11
DOW CHEMICAL: Rocky Flats Federal Court Trial Nears Conclusion
COLORADO (SunStream News) -- The protracted federal trial over whether the Rocky Flats nuclear weapons plant damaged its neighbors' property values is nearing an end in the U.S. District Court of Colorado, The Rocky Mountain News reports.
Closing arguments began recently before U.S. District Judge John Kane. After that, the judge will instruct the jury and deliberations will then begin.
The trial of the $500 million class action lawsuit, filed 15 years ago, began in Oct. 2005. It had been expected to end before Christmas.
Residents who owned property near the site, claim that Dow Chemical Co., which operated the site from the 1950s through 1975, and Rockwell International Corp., which took over in 1975 and operated the plant until it was shut down in 1989, improperly stored or otherwise mishandled plutonium-laced waste, resulting in contamination of soil and groundwater. According to the suit, both firms operated the plant under a Department of Energy (DOE) contract, an earlier Class Action Reporter story (October 11, 2005) reports.
Those residents, who are the named plaintiffs in the suit, claim that large fires at the plant and windstorms and other natural events helped to spread the waste outside the plant's boundaries. That contamination, plus what the property owners said was a stigma attached to houses near the plant, resulted in plummeting property values, an earlier Class Action Reporter story (October 11, 2005) reports. They also contend that Dow, Rockwell and the DOE have covered up how harmful the plant really was.
The defendants contend that only miniscule, harmless amounts of radioactive plutonium and other dangerous materials ever escaped outside the plant.
Much of the case centers on an FBI raid at the site in the summer of 1989. Rockwell, which ran Rocky Flats at the time, pleaded guilty in 1992 to 10 federal environmental crimes and paid a fine of $18.5 million.
Built in the 1950s during the Cold War era, the plant has been shut down. Its 6,500-acre site underwent environmental cleansing and is slated to become a wildlife refuge.
The suit is styled, "Cook, et al v. Rockwell Intl. Corp., Case No. 1:90-cv-00181-JLK," filed in the United States District Court for the District of Colorado, under Judge John L. Kane. Representing the Plaintiff/s are:
(1) Gary B. Blum of Silver & DeBoskey, P.C., 1801 York St., Denver, CO 80206, U.S.A, Phone: 303-399-3000, Fax: 303- 399-2650, E-mail: blumg@s-d.com;
(2) Stanley M. Chesley of Waite, Schneider, Bayless & Chesley Co., L.P.A., 1513 Fourth and Vine Tower, One West Fourth St., Cincinnati, OH 45202, U.S.A, Phone: 513-621-0268;
(3) Merrill Gene Davidoff, Jennifer E. MacNaughton, Peter B. Nordberg, Ellen T. Noteware, Bernadette M. Rappold, Stanley B. Siegel and David F. Sorensen of Berger & Montague, P.C., 1622 Locust St., Philadelphia, PA 19103, U.S.A, Phone: 215-875-3084, 215-875-3000 and 215-875-3051, Fax: 215-875-4671, 215-875-4604 and 215- 875-5707, E-mail: mdavidoff@bm.net, jmacnaughton@bm.net, pnordberg@bm.net, enoteware@bm.net and dsorensen@bm.net;
(4) Bruce H. DeBoskey of Silver & Deboskey, P.C., 1801 York St. #700, Denver, CO 80206-5607, U.S.A, Phone: 303-399 -3000;
(5) Kenneth A. Jacobsen of Jacobsen Law Offices, LLC, 12 Orchard Lane, Wallingford, PA 19086, U.S.A., Phone: 610-566-7930, Fax: 610-566-7940;
(6) David Evans Kreutzer of Colorado Department of Law, 1525 Sherman St., 5th Floor, Denver, CO 80203, U.S.A, Phone: 303-866-5667, Fax: 303-866-3558, E-mail: david.kreutzer@state.co.us;
(7) Louise M. Roselle of Waite, Schneider, Bayless & Chesley Co., L.P.A., 1513 Fourth and Vine Tower, One West Fourth St., Cincinnati, OH 45202, U.S.A, Phone: 513-621-0267, Fax: 513-381-2375, E-mail: louiseroselle@wsbclaw.com;
(8) Clisham, Satriana & Biscan, LLC, 1512 Larimer St., #400 Denver, CO 80202, U.S.A, Phone: 303-468-5403, Fax: 303- 942-7290, E-mail: satrianad@csbattorneys.com;
(9) Holly Brons Shook of Silver & DeBoskey, P.C., 1801 York St., Denver, CO 80206, U.S.A, Phone: 303-399-3000, Fax: 303-399-2650, E-mail: shookh@s-d.com;
(10) Ronald Simon of Simon & Associates, 1707 N. St., N.W. Washington, DC 20036, U.S.A, Phone: 202-429-0094, Fax: 202-429-0075, E-mail: ron@1707law.com; and
(11) John David Stoner of Chimicles & Tikellis, L.L.P., 361 West Lancaster Ave., One Haverford Centre, Haverford, PA 19041-0100, U.S.A
Representing the Defendant/s are:
(i) Joseph John Bronesky and Christopher Lane of Sherman & Howard, L.L.C.- 17th St., Denver, CO, United States District Court Box 12, 633 Seventeenth St., #3000 Denver, CO 80202, U.S.A, Phone: 303-299-8450 and 303- 299-8422, Fax: 303-298-0949 and 303-298-0940, E-mail: jbronesk@sah.com and clane@sah.com;
(ii) Wendy S. White, Timothy P. Brooks, Patrick M. Hanlon, Amy Horton, Franklin D. Kramer and Edward J. Naughton Of Goodwin Procter, LLP-DC, 1800 Massachusetts Ave., N.W. #800, Washington, DC 20036, U.S.A, Phone: 202- 828-2000, Fax: 828-2000;
(iii) Michael K. Isenman of Goodwin Procter, LLP-DC, 901 New York Ave., NW #700, Washington, DC 20001, U.S.A, Phone: 202-346-4000, Fax: 202-346-4444, E-mail: misenman@goodwinprocter.com;
(iv) Lester C. Houtz of Bartlit, Beck, Herman, Palenchar & Scott-Colorado, 1899 Wynkoop St., #800 Denver, CO 80202, U.S.A., Phone: 303-592-3177, Fax: 303-3140, E- mail: lester.houtz@bartlit-beck.com;
(v) Douglas J. Kurtenbach, S. Jonathan Silverman, Mark S. Lillie and David M. Bernick of Kirkland & Ellis, LLP- Illinois, 200 East, Randolph Drive, #5400 Chicago, IL 60601, U.S.A, Phone: 312-861-2225, 312-861-2089 and 312-861-2248, Fax: 861-2200, 312-660-0452 and 312-861- 2200, E-mail: mlillie@kirkland.com and dbernick@kirkland.com;
(vi) Douglas M. Poland of LaFollette, Godfrey & Kahn, P.O. Box 2719, One East Main St., Madison, WI 53703-2719, U.S.A, Phone: 608-257-3911, Fax: 608-257-0609, E-mail: dpoland@gklaw.com; and
(vii) Louis W. Pribila of Dow Chemical Company, 2030 Dow Center, Midland, MI 48674, U.S.A, Phone: 517-638-9511, Fax: 638-9410.ss/car
Source: Class Action Reporter
Publication Date: 2006-01-30
COY: DOW
IND: CHM
GEO: n-us-co
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