THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, January 12, 1995 TAG: 9501120351
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: VIENNA LENGTH: Medium: 75 lines
The lawns and flower beds outside Melinda Lebens' townhouse won't sprayed for pests this year, because the woman who claims chemicals cripple her won a legal battle with her neighbors.
Under an agreement reached Wednesday, Lebens' suburban housing development will instead hire a special consultant to recommend organic methods to control bugs.
``What's been outlined will enable me to use my dwelling and be a part of my neighborhood without becoming continually ill,'' Lebens said in a telephone interview.
Lebens, 39, claims some kinds of chemicals nauseate her and leave her dangerously disoriented and gasping for air. Pesticides are a particular problem.
The 350-home Country Creek development will stop routine application of pesticides along roads and sidewalks, and in homeowners' front yards under the out-of-court settlement, her lawyers said.
A pesticide-free zone will be set up around Lebens' home, and she must be notified whenever construction, road work or other activity might affect her.
Initially, the plan will probably cost the homeowners' group thousands of dollars more than the traditional groundskeeping regimen.
In the long run, however, the plan could save the homeowners' group money, lawyers for both sides said.
``I believe this was an accommodation negotiated successfully between the homeowners' association in their interest and Melinda Lebens with her interests in mind,'' said Bill Hickey, the attorney who represented the Country Creek homeowners.
Under the settlement, Lebens dropped a federal lawsuit requesting $300,000 in damages.
The homeowners' group must pay her legal fees.
Lebens believes chemicals used during a renovation project eight years ago at an Oregon school where she was a teacher triggered her health problems.
Now, she can no longer work or drive.
She says she has difficulty leaving her home or receiving visitors because of multiple chemical sensitivity.
``It's like having a very severe case of the flu,'' she said.
The condition is the subject of medical debate.
Some experts believe it is a real, debilitating problem. Skeptics are that sufferers' problems are more mental than physical.
The federal Department of Housing and Urban Development recognizes chemical sensitivity as a disability, opening the way for Lebens' suit last July in U.S. District Court in Alexandria.
``We sued under the federal Fair Housing Act, which requires people to make a reasonable accommodation of those who are disabled,'' said Adele Kimmel, a lawyer with the public interest firm Trial Lawyers for Public Justice, which represented Lebens.
``Our position has always been that Melinda Lebens has a disability, and it is multiple chemical sensitivity,'' Kimmel said.
The settlement doesn't admit wrongdoing or liability by the Country Creek homeowners.
``It (the settlement) is a cost-efficient measure,'' to avoid a potentially costly court fight, Hickey said.
Lebens and her neighbors have squared off repeatedly since she and her family moved to the 14-acre development in 1989.
She filed a complaint with HUD in 1992, and investigators found ``reasonable cause'' to believe the homeowners' group discriminated against Lebens. That finding carried no sanctions.
Lebens then took her complaint to the Justice Department, which declined to sue. The Trial Lawyers' group took her case last year.
KEYWORDS: LAWSUIT SETTLEMENT PESTICIDE POISONING CHEMICAL
SENSITIVITY by CNB