News Coverage
Laird: Panel of scientists will decide PCB cleanup needed
Published March 7, 2002
Calhoun County Circuit Judge Joel Laird announced Wednesday that he will appoint an independent panel of scientists to determine how he may proceed with a court-ordered PCB cleanup in Calhoun, Talladega, St. Clair and Shelby counties.
Laird said he based his decision on the Monsanto trial jury's recent finding that PCB pollution from the former Monsanto plant in western Anniston constitutes a public nuisance in the Anniston area.
The state of Alabama recently concurred with the jury's finding and wants Laird to consider appointing a group of scientists to decide the "most appropriate level of remediation," said Joe Hubbard, district attorney for Calhoun County, during a 9 a.m. Wednesday hearing in Laird's Anniston courtroom.
"I intend to grant that request," Laird said, adding that he has been involved with the Bowie v. Monsanto trial "long enough to know I need some help."
Hubbard recommended that the scientists consider air, soil and water PCB contamination "all the way to Lay Lake" in Shelby County.
The hearing Wednesday was the first in a series of hearings in which Laird will request testimony regarding a potential PCB cleanup. Laird said he will hold the hearings day and night and on weekends in order to get a quick resolution. "I've never held court on a Sunday before, but I may in this case," he said. (He has not scheduled hearings this weekend, however.)
The 3,500 plaintiffs in the Bowie case are asking for injunctive relief - which may include addressing PCB contamination in Monsanto's former landfills and contaminated soils and waterways in the four counties.
The plaintiffs also want Laird to consider appointing an expert who can design a health investigation, according to plaintiff attorney Donald Stewart. "Our plaintiffs have health care needs," Stewart said, adding, "There are a lot of problems, particularly in children."
In addition to Hubbard and the plaintiff and defense attorneys involved in the Bowie case, attorneys from the city of Anniston, the Alabama Department of Environmental Management, and the Attorney General's office also attended the hearing.
Monsanto attorney Jere White told Laird that Solutia, Monsanto's spinoff company, would likely be interested in recommending expert scientists, as well.
Laird told the attorneys to submit their lists of potential experts by March 12.
Laird will hold a second hearing today at 9 a.m. in his Anniston court in order to hear testimony from Solutia and the Alabama Department of Environmental Management.
He will reconvene the trial jury in Gadsden Monday morning, and also will convene a third hearing that afternoon, he said.