The Environmental Lawyers at The Simon Law Firm Represent Massachusetts Residents in Suit Against Landfill Owner

Media Coverage Sample

The Newburyport Current

NEWS RELEASE

Dec. 10, 2009

The Environmental Lawyers at The Simon Law Firm Represent Massachusetts Residents in Suit Against Landfill Owner
Newburyport residents call the Crow Lane landfill a “hydrogen sulfide gas factory”

ST. LOUIS--Residents of Newburyport, Mass., living near the Crow Lane landfill who claim to have been exposed to air pollution and hydrogen sulfide odors emanating from the facility have filed suit against the landfill’s owner, New Ventures Associates LLC.

The suit, Woodbury, et al. v. New Ventures Associates LLC, cause no. 09-2058C, was filed in Essex County Superior Court in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts on Oct. 23.

Filed on behalf of 89 plaintiffs, the suit claims that the Crow Lane landfill accepted construction and demolition debris that acted as a “hydrogen sulfide gas factory,” requiring vigilant and prudent management to prevent release of the foul-smelling gas into the surrounding community.

A preliminary injunction entered on Oct. 20, 2006, required the landfill owner to implement measures to prevent or mitigate the release of hydrogen sulfide, but, the suit alleges, the owner failed to comply. Although the human threshold for tolerance of hydrogen sulfide odor is as low as 0.5 parts per billion, since 2006 some residential neighborhoods have recorded air concentrations as high as 134 ppb, and landfill perimeter readings have climbed as high as 470 ppb.

As a result, residents allege, they have been unable to use and enjoy their property and have suffered such health effects as eye irritation, sinus problems, sore throats, headaches, dizziness, shortness of breath, a burning sensation in the chest, nausea and vomiting.

The suit asserts claims for private nuisance, negligence and negligence per se and seeks damages for the loss of use of the plaintiffs’ property and reimbursement for the costs of the suit and for other such damages a jury would deem appropriate.

The residents are represented by The Simon Law Firm, a St. Louis-based firm that represents people who have lost the use and enjoyment of their property or been hurt as a result of environmental and landfill hazards; the Jacksonville, Fla.-based Law Offices of Van Kirk McCombs II; the Law Office of William A. Simmons, based in Salisbury, Mass.; and Anthony Z. Roisman with the Lebanon, N.H.-based National Legal Scholars Law Firm.