CONTAMINATION SUIT MOVES FORWARD
Residents want cleanup of site used by Chrysler, Aramark, Behr.
A large group of Dayton residents will retain class-action status in their lawsuit against four large companies over alleged environmental contamination in their neighborhood.
The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed a federal judge’s decision to grant class-action status to McCook Field residents who are plaintiffs against Behr America Inc., Behr Thermal Dayton, Chrysler and Aramark Uniforms.
This means the residents’ suit against the companies alleging groundwater and environmental contamination can go forward, said the residents’ attorney, Douglas Brannon.
“This has been a long time coming for these residents,” Brannon said Wednesday.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency considers this area a “Superfund” site on a national priority list.
A decade ago, 30 plaintiffs launched the lawsuit, which now covers 540 homes and properties in the McCook Field neighborhood in north central Dayton. They charge that Aramark and Chrysler contaminated the ground in that area with carcinogenic volatile organic compounds, also known as “VOCs.”
According to the EPA, groundwater in the area has been found to contain trichloroethene (TCE) as well as perchloroethylene (PCE). But the agency also says that it has not found any groundwater wells in the contaminated area, and all homes there are provided with municipal water.
Remediation efforts to deal with the VOCs have been inadequate, Brannon said.
“It is intruding up to these homes in a process called ‘vapor intrusion,’” he said.
The Chrysler auto parts plant at 1600 Webster St. has operated since the 1930s. German manufacturer Behr GmbH & Co. bought the plant in 2002. German firm Mahle GmbH then took a majority ownership stake in the Behr Group in 2013. The plant employs more than 1,500 workers.
U.S. District Judge Walter Rice granted the lawsuit class-action status in early 2017. That status was one point of contention in arguments before the Circuit Court in March this year. This ruling was released last week.
Brannon said he now expects Rice to begin to schedule certain hearings in the case, with a trial ahead on the question of liability.
Jerry Bowling III is not directly involved in the suit as a plaintiff, but he is a McCook Field resident who has been deposed by defendants’ attorneys.
“I think it is good news, especially for those who are affected by it,” Bowling said of the ruling.
He said the problem impacts homes and small businesses in the area.
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It affects property values and hinders development, he said.
“We actually want a total cleanup of the affected areas,” Bowling said.
Since the early 2000s, more than 200 homes in the area have had air mon- itoring systems installed at some point to detect vapor emissions within homes — and “extraction” systems to deal with whatever prob- lems are found, the city of Dayton has said.
A message seeking com- ment was sent Wednesday to attorneys representing Chrysler, Behr and Aramark. A message was also sent to the Chicago U.S. EPA office that oversees a region that includes Ohio and Dayton.
The case was originally filed in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court in August 2008. It was later removed to federal court and consolidated with two other actions under a single case number.