Published in the Asbury Park Press
By PATRICIA A. MILLER and JEAN MIKLE
STAFF WRITERS
TOMS RIVER -- A group of about 40 families with children who have been stricken with cancer have retained the Massachusetts lawyer profiled in the best seller "A Civil Action" to represent them as the probe into higher childhood cancer rates continues.
Jan Schlichtmann, 46, will be in town today to introduce the local parents group, TEACH,an acronym for Toxic Environments Affect Children's Health.
"I'm going down to get some answers to their questions and get them a measure of respect and justice for what occurred in the past," Schlichtmann said. "We need open and honest discussion with the parties responsible to determine what exactly occurred and what we should do about it."
He specifically mentioned seeking a dialogue with Union Carbide Corp., Ciba Speciality Chemicals Corp., formerly Ciba-Geigy Corp., and United Water Toms River.
Schlichtmann says there is enough data gathered in a town with two Superfund sites to show a connection between United Water's system and private wells and the higher rates of childhood central nervous system and brain cancers.
State and United Water officials insist the company meets all federal and state standards for safe drinking water. But such assurances mean little to Schlichtmann, who fought an eight-year legal battle over whether five Woburn, Mass., children died of leukemia from drinking contaminated city well water.
"The lesson of Woburn is that levels that were thought to be safe were found not to be safe," he said. "Unfortunately, it's been the communities who have been drinking the water who are the guinea pigs."
Schlichtmann said he sees "striking" similarities between Woburn and Toms River, including major corporations involved in contaminated sites and higher rates of brain and central nervous system cancers.
"And you also have a contaminated water supply, with the domination of the kinds of chemicals that contaminated Woburn," he said. "You also have a very organized community that is acting in a very responsible manner, which reminds me very much of . . . the Woburn families."
Dover Township Mayor George E. Wittmann Jr. fears the media coverage that will result from Schlichtmann's involvement will again tarnish the town's reputation.
"I'm disappointed that the town is going to receive additional negative publicity, when we've worked so hard to create a more positive image," Wittmann said yesterday.
The state Department of Health and Senior Services and the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry launched a massive investigation into the higher rates in the spring of 1996.
Ciba-Geigy, a chemical manufacturer; Reich Farm, where toxic waste from Union Carbide was dumped by an independent trucker, and the water company are all under scrutiny. Ciba-Geigy and Reich Farm have been on the federal Superfund list for more than a decade.
Michael A. Cech, spokesman for Ciba, said the company's legal affairs department was contacted Wednesday by Mark A. Cuker, the Cherry Hill Township attorney who is co-representing the families with Schlichtmann.
"Mr. Cuker asked us to consider discussing with him . . . extending the statute of limitations (on filing lawsuits)," Cech said. "He asked us to enter into discussions about that. We just got the call yesterday, but we're going to give his request serious review."
Union Carbide Corp. spokesman Tomm Sprick said Cuker yesterday made a "courtesy call" about a news conference Schlichtmann scheduled for today. Sprick had no other comment.
Richard Henning, a spokesman for United Water Toms River, said he hadn't been contacted by Schlichtmann and had no comment.
Trouble first surfaced at United Water Toms River's parkway well field off Dugan Lane in 1987 when contaminants from Reich Farm -- including trichloroethylene and other solvents -- were found in three wells. An air stripper was installed to vaporize the pollutants before the water was sent into the distribution system.
In addition to removing the pollutants from the drinking water, the strippers have also served as the cleanup remedy for the Superfund site.
In November 1996, the entire parkway well field was shut down after fragments of a chemical compound related to the manufacture of plastics were found in one well and suspected in another. In the spring, a carbon filtration system was built to remove the molecule fragments from the water.
The Woburn case left Schlichtmann bankrupt -- emotionally and financially. He had spent his own money and borrowed more to hire experts for the case.
He wants to avoid taking cases to court and prefers to negotiate with companies, governmental agencies and citizens to resolve pollution cases and reach settlements.
"The problem has been in the past when the families came together and hired a lawyer, everybody says 'hey, there's going to be a war,' " Schlichtmann said. "We want to make this a cooperative venture in determining the truth."
But Schlichtmann is not ruling out a lawsuit in the future.
"The reality is, we can always fall back on the old model," he said. "That would be a terrible waste. The families are also saying they will do it the old way, left with no other choices. It's foolish, absolutely foolish for anyone to choose that road, when we have another alternative."
Schlichtmann has gotten calls from residents all over the country asking for legal help.
"I settled on Toms River because of the families," he said. "They impressed me with their approach, with the sense of responsibility for their own participation in the process."
He will be representing the families jointly with Cuker, who recently won a $4 million settlement for 200 Pine Lake Park families in Manchester Township who said their drinking water had been polluted by two nearby industries.
Kim Pascarella, a Toms River lawyer who is also a member of the Citizens Action Committee on Childhood Cancer Cluster, is the spokesman for TEACH.
"We just want some insight and more knowledge . . .," said Pascarella.
He and wife Linda lost their infant daughter Gabrielle to cancer in 1990.
Published on December 12, 1997
|
