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Minnesota Toxic Tort Claim Attorneys / Lawyers
The Superfund Site In Cass Lake, Minnesota
For nearly 30 years, from approximately 1957-1985, the St. Regis Paper Company, located in Cass Lake, MN (approximately 15 miles southeast of Bemidji), produced chemically treated telephone poles and railroad ties on 125 acres near downtown Cass Lake on the Leech Lake Indian Reservation (Site). The chemicals used at the plant included creosote, pentachlorophenol (PCP) and copper chromium arsenate. Wastewater from the treating processes was discharged into a number of disposal ponds located at the Site and sludges were hauled to a pit in a nearby dump area and burned. The disposal occurred almost daily at an estimated rate of 500 gallons per day, for a total of 547,500 gallons from 1957-1960. Unknown quantities of sludge were hauled to the pit until 1975. The air, soil and groundwater at and near the Site have been contaminated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), PCP and dioxins and furans (contaminates of industrial grade PCP). The plant, which changed ownership to Champion and eventually to its current owner, International Paper Company (IP), shut down in 1985 leaving behind unsafe and highly toxic levels of contamination. The Site was initially proposed to the National Priorities List in 1983 and subsequently designated as a Superfund Site in 1985. IP has been named as one of the primary responsible parties by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and is responsible for cleaning up the contamination.
On April 28, 2008, the EPA notified IP that as a result of their review of the September 2007 Human Health and Ecological Risk Assessment and its own additional calculations, human health and ecological risks remain at the Site for residents and these risks exceed acceptable levels. A feasibility study was required from IP to develop remedial alternatives, or cleanup options, for the Site and permanently reduce human health and ecological risks. The EPA also demanded IP reimburse them for its unrecovered Site costs incurred to date totaling nearly $4 million.
Personal injury attorneys James P. Carey and Shannon C. Keil represent dozens of Cass Lake residents who have sustained a loss of use and value to their property and others who have suffered serious health afflictions, including cancer, as a result of their exposure to the contaminants. This type of claim is referred to as a Toxic Tort Claim. It allows individuals to recover compensation from corporations or industries whose pollution or by-products caused their sickness or injuries. These cases are complex and difficult, often involving injuries that don’t present themselves until years after the exposure to the toxic substance.
Sieben, Grose, Von Holtum & Carey Minnesota Toxic Tort Claim attorneys, along with their staff, have devoted thousands of hours and taken hundreds of depositions in the case to-date in an effort to recover damages for injured residents of Cass Lake. They have hired environmental engineers to identify the source of the contamination, consulted with hydrologists to evaluate the ground water issues that still exist and are working closely with world renowned medical experts in order to have them connect the cause of the cancers and other disabling conditions suffered by these residents to their chemical exposure.
While it has been nearly 25 years since the plant ceased operations, groundwater and soil investigations continue at the Site. Currently, a draft workplan for the feasibility study is under review by the EPA. A public hearing for community input on this workplan is expected to occur in the fall of 2009. A final Record of Decision for this Site isn’t due for release until spring of 2010. More information about the St. Regis Superfund Site may be obtained directly from repositories including, but not limited to, the Cass Lake Library and City Hall or by visiting the following websites:
http://www.epa.gov/region5/sites/stregis/
http://www.epa.gov/region5/sites/stregis/pdfs/stregis-update-slides-20081113.pdf
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2008/06/17/casslksuperfund
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2006/03/28/casslkcleanup
