After a period of heavy rain, on Dec. 22 an earthen dike at a coal-fired electric plant failed, releasing thousands of pounds of ash and other plant byproducts, flooding more than 300 acres in East Tennessee. According to a story in the New York Times, the plant produced more than 2.2 million pounds of toxic materials each year. It is estimated that more than a billion gallons of coal fly ash was spilled. This is one of the largest spills of its kind in the United States, and poses an environmental disaster.
On Friday, June 27th, the United States Supreme Court issued an order rejecting all further appeals of the $20,709,000 pollution verdict entered against the Continental Carbon plant in Phenix City, Alabama, and against its parent company, China Synthetic Rubber Corporation of Taiwan.
Lawsuits filed in federal and state court by several residents living near a yeast plant north of Headland claim the noxious odor coming from the plant is such a nuisance that it disrupts their quality of life, and are asking the court to award damages in their favor.
Beasley Allen attorney Rhon Jones will represent clients participating in Multidistrict Litigation (MDL) for a consolidated class action captioned "In re Motor Fuel Temperature Sales Practices Litigation, MDL Docket No 1840." Three firms will serve as co-lead counsel, with an additional six firms, including Beasley Allen, on the steering committee.
Toxic fumes are believed to have killed four workers whose bodies were pulled from a 20-foot deep well near a blacktop demolition company.
Renewable Environmental Solutions - previously the target of lawsuits by the city of Carthage and the Missouri attorney general's office - has now been named in a lawsuit filed by a Carthage resident.
Almost three years after a U.S. District Court jury returned an almost $2 million damage award against Continental Carbon Co. of Phenix City, the company is paying the city of Columbus, a south Columbus businessman and an Oakland Park resident what the jury said was their due. Plus interest.
The Continental Carbon Co. filed a petition Wednesday asking the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to rehear its decision in March that upheld a $17.5 million punitive damage award against the Phenix City carbon black plant and its parent company, China Synthetic Rubber Corp.
The 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has upheld a 2004 jury verdict awarding the city of Columbus, a south Columbus businessman and an Oakland Park resident damages totaling more than $20.7 million from Continental Carbon Co. of Phenix City and its parent company, China Synthetic Rubber Corp.