US lawyers to assess PCB damage

The Texas-based lawyers assisting Tanapag residents for the planned class action suit over the polychlorinated biphenyl contamination in the village will still determine the amount of damages they hope to demand from the U.S. government.

Rep. Dino M. Jones, chair of the House Natural Resources Committee who is spearheading the petition for filing of the complaint in court, said they have no idea yet how much money will be involved in the case.

Attorneys from Waters & Krauss as well as lawyer Charles Seigel are scheduled to arrive on Saipan over the weekend to map out the plan to bring the environmental problem in Tanapag to court.

A meeting has been set for Monday, May 8, where the lawyers are expected to brief village residents, particularly those who believe they have suffered from the PCB contamination, on the legal measure.

According to Mr. Jones, they will also discuss their offer to assist the villagers in demanding compensation from the federal government as well as immediate clean-up of the sites which were believed to be poisoned by PCB’s and other highly toxic chemicals left behind by the U.S. military decades ago.

“I will show them military dumpsites in upper Tanapag, upper San Roque and in Capitol Hill… and also Agent Orange for them to consider whether they are interested [to pursue separate cases],” he told in an interview.

But the visit will focus on the present PCB contaminated areas and a possible agreement between the lawyers and the Tanapag residents “on how much the share of the money, should they win,” added the representative, who is from the same election district.

Mr. Jones, however, stressed he cannot quantify at this time the amount of damages the lawsuit will claim on behalf of the victims. “That will be unfair for me to say since [the lawyers] are the ones who will determine that,” he said.

His Capitol Hill office, according to him, has so far received several calls from people who have expressed interest to attend next week’s meeting and to participate in the litigation.

“Before [the lawyers] leave, we will have a plan. This is a big case,” Mr. Jones said, adding the people have been supportive of his efforts to deal with the problem “despite the fact that it took me four and a half years to finally get the attention of the federal government and to get a law firm to handle the case.”

The lawyers’ visit comes amid growing attention to the environmental disaster described by Greenpeace international activists as “global toxic hot spot.” The group has considered past remedial measures as “pitiful” and has prodded the military to clean up the contaminated areas.

In the meantime, both local and federal authorities in recent weeks have laid down the plan to conduct assessment study to find out the extent of the problem as well as ways to reduce the safety and health risks it poses to villagers.

A public meeting is to be held today at the Tanapag social hall where representatives from the Department of Public Health, the Division of Environmental Quality and several federal agencies are expected to attend to discuss issues with islanders.

PCB’s and dioxins were found in electrical capacitors abandoned by the military during the ’60s on the island. Studies show they caused cancer in animals and that people exposed to the chemical for a long time can experience nose, lung and skin irritation.