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US govt still waiting for litigation report in toxic exposure lawsuit
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Posted on Dec 22 2011
The U.S. government says it needs more time to prepare its answer to a lawsuit filed by a heavy equipment operator who blames his disability on exposure to toxic materials at the Marpi landfill.
Assistant U.S. attorney Mikel W. Schwab, on behalf of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, asked the U.S. District Court for the NMI on Wednesday to be given until Feb. 8, 2012, to file their response to the complaint filed by Vijaya Raghavan Sridharan and his wife, Kanchana S. Sridharan.
Schwab said that attorneys Ramon K. Quichocho and Michael W. Dotts, counsels for the Sridharans, have agreed to the extension.
In their stipulation, Schwab said this case involves the alleged conduct of two separate federal agencies: EPA and Army Corps of Engineers.
Schwab said the defense will be handled jointly by the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the U.S. Department of Justice’s Environmental Torts Section, Torts Branch, Civil Division.
He disclosed that the U.S. Attorney’s Office and DOJ “are currently awaiting a litigation report from the client agencies, as well as the documents and information necessary to fully and accurately respond to the complaint, including the complete administrative file.”
Sridharan, a citizen of India, is suing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and EPA for negligence. He also sued his former employer, Pacific Drilling Ltd., for negligence and strict liability. He sued PDL, PDL president Rama Medabalmi and PDL chief engineer Mahesh Balakrishnan for failure to pay him the minimum wage and overtime.
According to the complaint, Sridharan began working for PDL in 1997 as a heavy equipment operator and stopped working in April 2010 after he could no longer work due to health problems.
The plaintiff’s health problems allegedly began in the latter part of 2008, after he was assigned to the Marpi landfill where he was allegedly exposed to air that contained lead and other toxins.
