MichaelSol wrote: vsmith wrote:Interesting, a lifetime of Smoking had nothing to do with it, yeahhh...right!Smoking causes stomach cancer?
vsmith wrote:Interesting, a lifetime of Smoking had nothing to do with it, yeahhh...right!
Smoking causes stomach cancer?
No, but according to a couple of web sites I visited, neither does creosote.
An "expensive model collector"
Dad died of smoking related cancer, care to guess where his cancer was?
Have fun with your trains
sgtbean1 wrote: Huh? So even though most people had someone in their family working at the plant, nobody knew they were using toxins on a daily basis? Seems a little odd to me.
Huh? So even though most people had someone in their family working at the plant, nobody knew they were using toxins on a daily basis? Seems a little odd to me.
News item:
BN has already settled one case out of court:
"A case filed by one-time employee Don Hightower has settled for an undisclosed amount, just before he died from cancer that ate away at his face."
There was a genuine management problem at this plant:
"In a court deposition, former plant superintendent Gene Welch said he was unaware creosote might require special handling. "... you know, I don't know that I ever had anybody come to me and complain about creosote hurting (them).""
One worker went to work at the railway in 1971 and served on the Railway Safety Committee. "Nobody ever addressed us about the chemicals." "We never had the proper equipment to keep the vapors and fumes from breathing them."
"Creosote can pose a significant danger to soil and groundwater supplies, if mishandled. Once it enters the soil or groundwater, it begins to break down, which can take years."
"According to records at the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, the plant is still struggling to clean toxic waste from groundwater."
Krazykat112079 wrote: If damages are awarded, it would be poetic justice for the companies to produce the funds by laying off all the employees and liquidating the factory.
Interesting that people here find profound human suffering and death not tragic enough whatever the cause, that because a railroad is involved the suffering should be intentionally multiplied and compounded by the "poetic justice" of a layoff and losing medical coverage as well.
-ChrisWest Chicago, ILChristopher May Fine Art Photography"In wisdom gathered over time I have found that every experience is a form of exploration." ~Ansel Adams
It is unfortunate that in these cases you are 100% guilty until proven innocent. Normally, I don't side with big business and I'm not just siding with BNSF because I'm a shareholder. The rewards given in these types of cases are more often than not ludicrous. Everyone says that emotions are priceless, but they always seem to be worth millions when suing someone. I will be happy if justice is served, but it is more likely to be revenge.
If damages are awarded, it would be poetic justice for the companies to produce the funds by laying off all the employees and liquidating the factory.
Amen - Santa Fe and Kirby Lumber were more than a little obsessed with the toxic aspects of the treating plant. Especially where large amounts of chemical were involved. (My experience goes back into the eighties)....Looks like this ambulance chaser and his client are counting on deep pockets and finding a jury pool that has been tainted by the less than informed media hysteria over treated timber. If the person chose to ignore what he was told, that's his problem.
Sommerville was hardly the only tie plant on the railroad over the years. When issues with creosote (in concentrated quantity) were first recognized in the 1960's, they centralized the treating plants at two locations, and then one at Sommerville. The closed plants were hardly forgotten and ignored - the railroad remediated and kept after the older sites at Las Vegas, Albuquerque, etc. (still does, UP managed a similar program)...
Remember the bizarre $11 (?) billion verdict in the 1980s Houston trial between Texaco and Pennzoil, regarding the Getty Oil buyout?
Anyone who thinks that rubes are powerless in this society should read up on the impact those 12 jurors had. What a disaster.
Cancer Suit Against Texas Plant BeginsTuesday January 8, 4:05 pm ET By David Koenig, Associated Press Writer First Cancer Lawsuit Against Railroad Tie Plant Begins FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) -- Testimony began Tuesday in the first of a flurry of lawsuits in which residents of a small Central Texas town claim their cancers were caused by toxic pollution from a century-old plant that makes railroad ties.Lawyers suing BNSF Railway Co. say the company kept workers and residents of Somerville in the dark about dangers from chemicals such as creosote and arsenic, some of which were buried, burned or dumped in creeks."The railroad had a dirty little secret, and they buried it in a place where they didn't think anyone would look, listen or care," said Jared Woodfill, a lawyer for a 50-year-old woman who blames BNSF for her stomach cancer.Linda Faust and her husband, who had worked at the plant for more than 30 years, are seeking at least $6 million in damages.Railroad lawyer Douglas Poole said there is no scientific evidence linking Linda Faust's cancer to the chemicals used at the plant, and instead pointed to her smoking habit."She never worked at the tie plant," Poole told jurors during his opening statement. "Her husband did. He's fine."The trial in state district court is expected to last four weeks and is being watched closely as a bellwether for up to 200 similar lawsuits filed by Somerville residents and plant workers against BNSF and Koppers Inc.BNSF is a unit of Fort-Worth based Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp., which sold the plant to Pittsburgh-based Koppers in 1995 but remains its largest customer.The plant has been a cornerstone of the economy in Somerville, 90 miles northwest of Houston, since it opened in the 1890s. In some families, several generations of men have worked in the plant, turning out telephone poles and railroad ties.The plant takes raw lumber and infuses it with a tar-like mixture of chemicals to turn out ties that withstand weather and termites for up to 30 years.Since the early 1980s, critics have blamed the plant for what they call a cancer cluster and birth defects such as infants born with cleft palates.Texas health officials have found no unusual incidence of cancer in Burleson County, where the plant sits, but critics say the study was flawed and didn't count people who developed cancer but moved away.Linda Faust was diagnosed with stomach cancer in 1998, when she was 40, and doctors removed her stomach. She is thin, must eat or drink constantly, sometimes loses control of her bowels, and appears much older than she is.She sat next to her husband, Donnie, behind their lawyers' table as Woodfill outlined their case to the jury.Woodfill said workers and residents were exposed to dangerous levels of coal-tar creosote, arsenic and dioxin, which are known or suspected carcinogens. He said BNSF ignored recommendations from the makers of creosote and from federal agencies to outfit workers in rubber gloves and respirators and to issue them uniforms to avoid tracking toxic chemicals into their homes.A witness for Faust's side will testify that he found high levels of contamination in the couple's attic, Woodfill said.But Poole said he would call a Georgetown University epidemiologist to dispel any link between Faust's cancer and the chemicals used at the plant. He said creosote exposure has been linked to skin cancer but not stomach cancer."She never set foot in the plant as far as we know," Poole said. "She claims she got (cancer) from living more than a mile away. It's a joke."According to records at the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, the plant is still struggling to clean toxic waste from groundwater.The Faust case was tried in September in the same court, but state District Judge Jeff Walker declared a mistrial when a witness mentioned the other pending lawsuits against BNSF and Koppers.
Cancer Suit Against Texas Plant BeginsTuesday January 8, 4:05 pm ET By David Koenig, Associated Press Writer
Lawyers suing BNSF Railway Co. say the company kept workers and residents of Somerville in the dark about dangers from chemicals such as creosote and arsenic, some of which were buried, burned or dumped in creeks.
"The railroad had a dirty little secret, and they buried it in a place where they didn't think anyone would look, listen or care," said Jared Woodfill, a lawyer for a 50-year-old woman who blames BNSF for her stomach cancer.
Linda Faust and her husband, who had worked at the plant for more than 30 years, are seeking at least $6 million in damages.
Railroad lawyer Douglas Poole said there is no scientific evidence linking Linda Faust's cancer to the chemicals used at the plant, and instead pointed to her smoking habit.
"She never worked at the tie plant," Poole told jurors during his opening statement. "Her husband did. He's fine."
The trial in state district court is expected to last four weeks and is being watched closely as a bellwether for up to 200 similar lawsuits filed by Somerville residents and plant workers against BNSF and Koppers Inc.
BNSF is a unit of Fort-Worth based Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp., which sold the plant to Pittsburgh-based Koppers in 1995 but remains its largest customer.
The plant has been a cornerstone of the economy in Somerville, 90 miles northwest of Houston, since it opened in the 1890s. In some families, several generations of men have worked in the plant, turning out telephone poles and railroad ties.
The plant takes raw lumber and infuses it with a tar-like mixture of chemicals to turn out ties that withstand weather and termites for up to 30 years.
Since the early 1980s, critics have blamed the plant for what they call a cancer cluster and birth defects such as infants born with cleft palates.
Texas health officials have found no unusual incidence of cancer in Burleson County, where the plant sits, but critics say the study was flawed and didn't count people who developed cancer but moved away.
Linda Faust was diagnosed with stomach cancer in 1998, when she was 40, and doctors removed her stomach. She is thin, must eat or drink constantly, sometimes loses control of her bowels, and appears much older than she is.
She sat next to her husband, Donnie, behind their lawyers' table as Woodfill outlined their case to the jury.
Woodfill said workers and residents were exposed to dangerous levels of coal-tar creosote, arsenic and dioxin, which are known or suspected carcinogens. He said BNSF ignored recommendations from the makers of creosote and from federal agencies to outfit workers in rubber gloves and respirators and to issue them uniforms to avoid tracking toxic chemicals into their homes.
A witness for Faust's side will testify that he found high levels of contamination in the couple's attic, Woodfill said.
But Poole said he would call a Georgetown University epidemiologist to dispel any link between Faust's cancer and the chemicals used at the plant. He said creosote exposure has been linked to skin cancer but not stomach cancer.
"She never set foot in the plant as far as we know," Poole said. "She claims she got (cancer) from living more than a mile away. It's a joke."
According to records at the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, the plant is still struggling to clean toxic waste from groundwater.
The Faust case was tried in September in the same court, but state District Judge Jeff Walker declared a mistrial when a witness mentioned the other pending lawsuits against BNSF and Koppers.
Just another case of getting cash from the railroad, or is there truth to this story?
the company kept workers and residents of Somerville in the dark about dangers from chemicals such as creosote and arsenic
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