Bill seeking toxic compensation OK’d in House

To provide island residents the means to seek compensation for injuries and loss as a result of exposure to toxic substances, the House of Representatives has approved legislation establishing the legal framework if and when such situation occurs.

If HB 12-177, otherwise known as the Toxic Substances Exposure Compensation Act, becomes a law, it will be a public policy of the CNMI to grant rights to the victims for compensation and other relief.

Offered by House Natural Resources Committee chair Rep. Dino M. Jones, the measure is an offshoot to the planned lawsuit against federal agencies and manufacturers of the polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) which has contaminated the coastal village of Tanapag over the last three decades.

In a report, the House committee said the Commonwealth needs the legal framework to address claims that residents and citizens may have concerning exposure to highly-toxic chemicals like PCBs.

“The current state of the law is far too vague to be effective for these sorts of claims. The manifestation of disease or injury may not appear until well after the current statute of limitations have run,” the report stated.

“As such, we need to adopt a framework which will allow those injured by toxic exposure to seek compensation based on the date of discovery of their injury, rather than date of first exposure,” it added.

The committee also believed that there should be no limitation of actions which can be brought on behalf of the Commonwealth government if this legal course is chosen by the victims.

Although the bill was fine-tuned by the committee with the assistance of Charles Seagull, a legal expert on toxic substances, some of the provisions were changed to solidify the legal base of this legislation, the report said.

Safeguards

Mr. Jones has maintained that the measure primarily aims to protect people in the CNMI from future contamination as well as to provide a means for those who have already been exposed beyond “permissible level” to file civil suits to seek payment and other reparation.

Toxic substances covered by the proposed law will include the PBC, dioxins, furans or halogenated chlorofuluoroalkanes. Federally permitted levels of exposure will encompass those established by federal regulatory agencies, like the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Those who be sued will be the manufacturers of the chemicals found harmful to residents on the island as well as those responsible for the claimant’s exposure. Violators of federal cleanup regulations will also be included since it constitutes negligence, according to the bill.

Recoverable claims and punitive damages will be granted from effects that range from injury, increased risk of illness, lost income, medical expenses, pain and suffering, emotional distress to loss of ability to enjoy life and other direct and indirect impact of the exposure.

In case of a lawsuit, defendants responsible for the exposure will have “the burden of disproving an increased likelihood of disease or injury” to the claimant, according to the bill, and that all doubts shall be resolved in favor of the plaintiff.

“Studies indicating harmful effects of exposure on animals shall create a presumption that exposure of humans will also be harmful and will cause similar results,” it added.

Texas-based lawyers who visited the island in May have said that they expect to face an uphill battle in the planned class action suit to prove that negligence of federal authorities have caused damage to Tanapag residents and their environment due to the PCB chemicals left behind by the U.S. military.

Mr. Jones has been assisting the residents in trying to bring the matter to court to seek compensation and immediate clean-up of the area which is now a focus of inter-agency actions aimed at easing villagers’ fears of PCB contamination effects.