Star Staff Writer
The cleanup agreement, or consent decree, is mostly on track, though there are concerns about a late payment and the time it is taking to start up an educational foundation.
The $300 million settlement is also moving forward, with many components, including how to set up a community clinic and exactly how to split up the cash settlement, still being worked out.
Lawyers and officials for Solutia, Monsanto, Pharmacia, Pfizer, the Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Department of Justice and PCBs plaintiffs were in Anniston for the meeting, called by U.S. District Judge U.W. Clemon.
Across the street from the courthouse, in a facility so new it still smelled of paint, some of the 17,000 plaintiffs in the lawsuit, Tolbert v. Monsanto, were having their blood tested for PCBs. The tests, which are only for plaintiffs, will help decide how millions of dollars are divided up.
Though the lawsuit settlement and the cleanup agreement with the EPA are separate issues, Clemon is overseeing both.
After a brief tour of the testing facility, Clemon said he is committed to making sure the settlement and cleanup move quickly, effectively and fairly, so that residents can start seeing results.
He has appointed two expert advisers, called special masters, to help keeps tabs on the cleanup and make sure it moves forward.
Solutia and EPA officials said that the second phase of property cleanups should begin within the next several weeks.
But one of the special masters said he was concerned about delays with the $3.2 million educational foundation Solutia must set up as part of the cleanup agreement.
“One of my big frustrations is not knowing what’s going on,” said Doug Jones, a former U.S. attorney.
A New Jersey organization, the National Black United Fund soon will complete a plan based on input from the community, said Craig Branchfield, remedial projects manager for Solutia.
The law firms involved in the case also will give the foundation a big boost, contributing $1 million, said Bob Roden, one of the plaintiffs’ attorneys.
“We’re trying to get all this money combined to try to do something,” Roden said.
EPA lawyers said Solutia is late with a $1.5 million payment that was due in November.
Branchfield said the company thought it had an extension on the payment, and both parties agreed to resolve the issue.
The consent decree also includes $2.5 million a year for a community health clinic.
Edgar Gentle, the claims administrator, said the University of Alabama at Birmingham is working on a budget for the facility. Within the next couple of months they should be looking for a location, he said.
The medical information that is being collected from plaintiffs at the same time as the blood testing will give some idea of what health services are most needed in the community, he said.
The blood testing facility opened Monday, and will process about 250 clients a day, he said.
For decades, Monsanto made polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, at its plant in western Anniston. Congress banned the chemicals in the late 1970s because of health concerns, but today PCBs still contaminate local waterways and properties, and are in some residents’ blood.
Solutia, the spinoff company that now owns the plant, filed for bankruptcy last year.
But other companies are also on the hook for the cleanup and the settlements. Monsanto was bought by Pharmacia and spun off again, and Pharmacia was bought by the drug giant Pfizer.