Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, April 17, 1993 TAG: 9304170143
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: By KATHY LOAN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
FAMILY SUES OVER CHEMICAL SPILL
A family that had to leave its Plum Creek home last fall during the cleanup of a lead spill at Brewer's Garage has sued the trucking company and the garage's owner.In documents filed Friday in Montgomery County Circuit Court, Roger Hawley, Katinka Hawley and Troy Hawley seek $174,000 in damages from Net Transportation of Tennessee and Paul Brewer.
Authorities were called to the garage on U.S. 11 after neighbors in the residential area complained of dust as workers were transferring 800-pound bags of powdered lead from a wrecked tractor-trailer stored at the garage lot to another trailer.
The bags either burst from the wreck or burst when they were being moved from the truck.
The odorless white powder, the chemical name of which is dibasic lead stearate, is not regulated by the U.S. Department of Transportation, so the trailer was not carrying placards warning of any hazardous materials.
The residents of the two nearby homes were evacuated because easterly winds made them most susceptible to any possible hazards, authorities said then.
In the lawsuit, the Hawleys allege that rather than repackaging the powder in a confined area, Net Transportation and Brewer began to repack the powder "in open air without any attempt to contain the release of lead products."
The lead contaminated the Hawley's home, ground water and soil, the suit alleges, rendering the property worthless.
Once the lead was spilled, the lawsuit says, property owners were not warned in a timely manner and the cleanup was not done promptly.
The lawsuit asks for $100,000 in punitive damages and $74,420 in actual damages - including damage to property value, personal property and the loss of a pet cat who died, allegedly from lead poisoning.