About benzene

Brief exposure (5 to 10 minutes) to very high levels of benzene in the air (10,000 to 20,000 partsper-million) can result in death. Lower levels (700 to 3,000 parts-per-million) can cause drowsiness, dizziness, rapid heart rate, headaches, tremor, confusion and unconsciousness. In most cases, people will stop feeling these effects when they are no longer exposed and begin to breathe fresh air. situation for the Macombers and their children.

Frank Bailey, attorney for the Macombers, said Friday he hopes the new testing considers more health issues than cancer. Previous testing ruled out cancer, Bailey said.

“They didn’t address respiratory issues from inhaling the smoke,” he said. “They need to do long-term monitoring and consider all hazardous risks.”

The case is assigned to Benton County Circuit Judge Xollie Duncan. Brown Tree Service hasn’t filed a response to the lawsuit.

Tom Judson, the Property Owners Association’s chief operating officer, said the association operated the stump dump on leased land starting December 2003 until the end of 2016 when the dump was covered with soil.

Judson said nobody monitored the site the last few years it was open, but staff would

remove trash when possible.