Cash Type: toxic torts

Case: Rivere v. NPC Services Inc.,
336561 (Dist. Ct., Baton Rouge Parish, La.)

Plaintiff’s Attorney’s: C. Locke Meredith of Baton Rouge, La.’s Locke Meredith & Associates; and John W. deGravelles, of Baton Rouge’s deGravelles, Palmintier & Hothaus

Defense Attorney’s: John Schwab and Gerald L. Walter Jr., of Baton Rouge’s Schwab and Walter

Jury Verdict: $8.2 million

From the 1970’s onward, a number of petrochemical companies dumped hazardous wastes at a site in north Baton Rouge, La., said plaintiff’s attorney C. Locke Meredith. In the 1980’s, the Environmental Protection Agency declared the area a Superfund site and the companies, including Exxon Corp., Shell Oil Co. and Allied Chemical Corp., formed NPC Services Inc. to handle the cleanup.

In 1987, Floyd Rivere worked as a supervisor of the solidification process of this cleanup. “The solidification process was not well thought out,“ said Mr. Meredith. “They were dumping dirt and lime in with the chemicals and then mixing them with track hoes.” The mixture, he said, “would heat up, causing significant chemical emissions.” Mr. Rivere sustained lung damage by breathing in these emissions; he has been disabled for the past nine years, Mr. Meredith said. Mr. Rivere sued NPC and the petrochemical companies, charging that they had failed to protect him from or warn him of the hazard. The defendants contend that Mr. Rivere was neither harmed nor disabled, but on Jan.19, a Baton Rouge jury awarded him $8.2 million, including $5 million in punitives. Mr. Rivere is also entitled to pretrial interest that would double the jury’s award, said Mr. Meredith. Post-trial motions are pending.