Man claims exposure to toxic materials at Marpi landfill

A heavy equipment operator who is now medically disabled after allegedly being exposed to toxic materials at Marpi landfill has filed a lawsuit in federal court over the 2008 dumping of lead contaminated soil by the U.S. military.

Vijaya Raghavan Sridharan, a citizen of India, is suing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for negligence.

Sridharan 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 pay.

Sridharan’s wife, Kanchana S. Sridharan, joined the lawsuit and filed a claim for loss of consortium against USACE, USEPA, and PDL.

Saipan Tribune contacted PDL for comments yesterday but no one answered the phone. As of press time, no one from PDL returned Saipan Tribune’s call.

The Sridharan couple, through counsels Michael W. Dotts and Ramon K. Quichocho, asked the U.S. District Court for the NMI to order the defendants pay them damages, including for medical expenses, pain and suffering, emotional distress, loss of enjoyment of life, and future medical problems. Mr. Sridharan also demanded payment for unpaid minimum wage and overtime.

Dotts and Quichocho stated in the complaint filed Friday that USACE and USEPA were notified about Mr. Sridharan’s claim in February 2011 and the Office of the U.S. Attorney was also served a copy of the claim on Feb. 22, 2011.

The lawyers said the couple decided to go ahead with the lawsuit as both USACE and USEPA had until Aug. 21, 2011, to act on the claim yet failed to do so.

Mr. Sridharan began working for PDL in 1997 as a heavy equipment operator. He stopped working for PDL in April 2010 and can no longer work due to health problems.

Dotts and Quichocho said that Mr. Sridharan’s health problems began during the latter part of 2008, after he was assigned to the Marpi landfill where he was allegedly left without proper and adequate safety gear or supervision.

Mr. Sridharan’s health problems were allegedly the result of being exposed to and breathing in air that contained lead and other toxins.

Dotts and Quichocho said the lead and toxins came from soil placed in the landfill by USACE under the supervision of USEPA.

“Mr. Sridharan’s health problems reached the point in April 2010 when he was forced to stop working,” the lawyers said.

Mr. Sridharan, the lawyers said, was diagnosed with progressive muscular atrophy, a slowly progressive neurological disorder, on Oct. 16, 2010.

“He feels weak, has neck pain, numbness and pain on the right side of the body, visions problems, paralysis of his right upper extremity and weakness of the right lower extremity. His right arm and leg muscles have atrophied and are already deformed. His condition is degenerative and will likely result in his death,” the lawyers said.

Dotts and Quichocho pointed out that the Marpi landfill was supposed to be used only for disposing of municipal solid waste or other non-hazardous wastes.

However, the lawyers noted, in 2008 about 1,000 dump truckloads of lead-contaminated soil dug up in Kagman by the U.S. military was disposed at the landfill by USACE under USEPA’s supervision.

When the lead contaminated soil was allegedly disposed at the landfill, it was mixed with non-contaminated soil to be used as cover material.

“By mixing contaminated soil with cover soil, lead and other toxins were not properly contained by USACE and USEPA. When the cover soil was later used to bury refuse placed in the landfill, the toxins in the cover soil became airborne and were inhaled by Mr. Sridharan,” the lawyers said.

USEPA, the lawyers added, knew or should have known that the process of mixing contaminated soil with cover soil and then using cover soil as a top cover at the landfill created a health risk and that the toxins would be inhaled by those working at the landfill.

Dotts and Quichocho cited that PDL employees regularly received safety briefings and debriefings, received adequate protective equipment and devices, and safety concerns were adequately addressed before Balakrishnan became the supervisor.

“However, after Mr. Balakrishnan took over as a supervisor, the safety briefings and/or debriefings stopped. Employees were not longer supplied with adequate protective equipment and devices, and safety concerns were ignored,” the lawyers alleged.