Mass tort lawsuit filed against multiple companies for water contamination

December 19, 2017December 19, 2017 ~ susie ~ 1 Comment

A mass tort lawsuit by Pennsylvania residents of Buck and Montgomery counties will be filed against six companies who manufacture firefighting foam. This lawsuit is separate from other class action lawsuits filed against the same companies that are also related to contamination.

The firefighting foam was used at military bases located in the region. Two of the foam’s ingredients – PFOS and PFOA – were found to be the source of contamination of the region’s drinking water.

A writ of summons was filed naming 461 plaintiffs. The writ of summon is a notification to the manufacturers that a lawsuit is coming. The writ of summons does not include any allegations or facts of the case.

The group of plaintiffs are made up of current residents and those who have moved away, as well people who either served or worked at one of the three military bases where the contamination is believed to have come from.

The companies that are listed as defendants in the writ of summons are Tyco Fire Products, 3M Company, National Foam, Chemguard, Buckeye Fire Protection, and Angus Fire.

According to a statement released by the law firm representing the plaintiffs, the group is seeking financial damages “. . .as a result of their suffering from injuries/diseases they believe are caused by ingestion, etc. of water polluted with the chemicals PFOA and PFOS.”

All the lawsuits filed accuse the foam manufactures of knowing their product was dangerous or defective, that they should have known about the dangers, and that even when the companies learned about dangerous their product was, they failed to warn consumers.

The class action suits are not looking for financial damages, however, and instead want the courts to order the companies to establish a health study, blood-testing program and medical monitoring. They also want the companies to have to set up a fund for property clean ups and water supplies and also implement a private well testing program.

Upon hearing of the multiple lawsuits filed and pending, attorney Grungo commented, “Companies owe a duty of care to not only consumers who use their products, but also to the public. When a manufacturer puts the public health at risk, then they need to be held legally and financially accountable.”

Phrase of the month: stealth recall

January 6, 2012January 6, 2012 ~ odd man out ~ 3 Comments

harry lime — Orson Welles as Harry Lime in "The Third Man," based on Graham Greene's novella

For you scholars out there: To which circle of hell would Dante’s god have assigned corporate chiefs who put on the market — and then don’t take proper steps to recall — tainted, potentially lethal “medicine?” More here.

That good ol’ Mountain Dew

January 5, 2012January 5, 2012 ~ odd man out

You think maybe PepsiCo picked the wrong expert to discredit the man who claims he almost swallowed a dead mouse while drinking from a can of Mountain Dew?

Mountain Dew drinkers know their distinctively yellow beverage of choice is packed with caffeine, but a new lawsuit might get them thinking about what else is in there.

PepsiCo, the drink’s manufacturer, is being sued by Ronald Ball of Wisconsin, who claims in a 2009 lawsuit that he opened a can from a vending machine, tasted something foul, and spat out a dead mouse, acccording to MadisonRecord.com.

Ball, who is seeking damages in excess of $50,000, claims he then sent the mouse to Pepsi, which destroyed the mouse’s body.

However, Pepsi is now moving to dismiss the case, citing testimony from an expert who claims that acid used when the drink is bottled would have caused the rodent to transform into a “‘jelly-like’ substance,” according to LegalNewsline.com.

Mountain Dew’s mouse-dissolving capabilities may also be helped by another ingredient in the bubbly beverage: brominated vegetable oil (BVO), a chemical that Gizmodo points out is banned in Europe and Japan, but is allowed in limited quantities in sodas like Mountain Dew, Squirt and Fanta Orange.

BVO is added to soda for the purpose of giving it more consistent flavoring.