Boston Globe: Victims in PCB poisoning find justice moves slowly

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This is an absolute disgrace. There are just no words.

THIS STORY HAS BEEN FORMATTED FOR EASY PRINTING

Victims in PCB poisoning find justice moves slowly By Robin C. , Globe Correspondent, 4/14/2002 ANNISTON, Ala. - Almost every day, one-by-one, they tell the jury of their plight. All told, there are 3,500 of them, the people of Anniston whose health and property were damaged by four decades of PCB poisoning. In a highly publicized trial, a jury in February found Monsanto, its spinoff Solutia, and its parent company Pharmacia guilty of polluting the Anniston area and exposing its residents to PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls). But in the weeks since, it has become clear that it may be years before the plaintiffs receive compensation for their losses. And the record of earlier lawsuits against Monsanto suggests there will be no windfall for the victims. Each of the 3,500 plaintiffs has to present his or her case before before the jury to determine damages for personal injury. ''It will take several more months just to get to the end of the jury trial,'' Judge R. Laird Jr. said recently. ''And after, it will take several months to get a jury verdict for damages.'' Jeanette Champion and her family, litigants in the current case, the third in a series of lawsuits against Monsanto, were mentally and medically devastated by the PCB poisoning. Their soil tested at 860 parts per million of PCBs. The minimum level that is considered toxic ranges from 10 ppm to 50 ppm. ''I'm in bad shape every day,'' said Champion, 46. ''My brother goes to trial every day they're there, but I'm too sick to go anymore.'' The trial will also cover the cleanup of the pollution. About a month ago, Monsanto reached agreement with the Environmental Protection Agency on the matter, but Laird could order a stricter cleanup. According to , an attorney for the plaintiffs, the judge also could order a health study for the victims. In addition, various legal motions could further slow the case. For more than 40 years, Monsanto produced PCBs, which are used mainly as insulating fluid for electrical transformers, at the Anniston plant. During that time, toxic chemicals were dumped into waterways. The chemical was banned in the 1970s as a suspected cancer-causing agent. But it wasn't until 1995, when Monsanto began offering to buy residents' properties, that people became aware that the area had been exposed to PCBs since 1933. In January, a panel of scientists in Atlanta named Anniston the most polluted city in the world, and recent reports say the cleanup costs could exceed $1 billion. Monsanto has never admitted guilt, and maintains that PCBs haven't hurt anyone. The company did not return phone calls seeking comment for this story. Dorothy was born and raised in Cobb Town, next to the Monsanto plant. Today, Cobb Town is a wasteland behind a 6-foot-high fence topped with barbed wire. Signs on the fence warn trespassers of the dangers within. The only evidence the neighborhood ever existed is a stop sign in the middle of the field. Most residents grew vegetables in the tainted soil, and raised chickens, hogs, and cows. They played in the stream that runs through town. One of 's eight children, Talitha, was born with her organs in the wrong places; she had a stroke at age 4 and died. Two of her other children were born with holes in their skulls. ''You can actually feel their brains,'' said , 51. ''And they suffer from terrible headaches.'' was a plaintiff in the first Anniston-related lawsuit against Monsanto and received $14,000; half of it went to her lawyer. That suit was settled last April 25 for $40 million. Among the provisions, Solutia was to pay $2.5 million to relocate plaintiffs who lived closest to the plant, $1 million for court costs, and $3.5 million to set up a foundation that would fund medical evaluation and treatment of PCB-contaminated residents. A separate lawsuit, also settled last April, covered property damage for residents who lived along Lake and Chocolocca Creek, plus other residents from west Anniston. Each property owner received about $2,000, the attorneys split $10 million, and $21 million was earmarked to clean up the lake. Guldin and his wife Joyce are residents of Eastaboga, 8 miles downriver from the plant. They bought land along the Chocolocca 15 years ago for their retirement. They didn't know about the PCB problem until someone from the county came to test their soil and well water as well as the creek. They were told not to eat vegetables grown on their property; not to fish in the creek; and not to drink, bathe, or wash dishes with their well water. They were also told that their 3-acre yard was contaminated and would cost them $1,500 a square foot to decontaminate. ''Then we got a letter last August,'' Guldin said. ''The next day we got a check for $999 as settlement.'' They can't sell their home because of the contamination. There's also a fourth trial in the making, following attorney nie Cochran's filing of a suit in January. And a law firm in Montgomery says it has about 15,000 clients suing in federal court. Because the two earlier cases were settled, the payouts were relatively prompt. But the process could stretch out for years with the third lawsuit, because of the testimony of 3,500 people, the legal motions, the conflicts between EPA cleanup agreements and a possible court-ordered cleanup, and the additional health and environmental studies. And if the plaintiffs are victorious, someone is almost certain to appeal, lengthening the wait for financial compensation. To make matters worse, PCBs aren't the only danger looming over Anniston. In March, the Army began test burns for the incincerator at the Anniston Army Depot, where 70 percent of the nation's stockpile of chemical weapons is stored. The Army plans to destroy chemical weapons sarin, mustard gas, and the VX agent. Plaintiffs in the Monsanto cases reside in the areas surrounding the incinerator. The federal government will pay $7 million for 35,000 residents, who would have less than 12 minutes to escape if there's an accident, to receive gas masks. ''Where are they going to go?'' asked about the incinerator. ''So, what you're seriously going to tell these people is they're going to die. So if it does happen, just know I'm with Jesus. And Monsanto, then they won't have to pay anybody anything.'' Material from the Associated Press was included in this report. This story ran on page A8 of the Boston Globe on 4/14/2002.

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