Pollution Trial to Begin

Pollution trial to begin

Residents allege company contaminated water

By KARL LEIF BATES

NEWS STAFF REPORTER____________________

Homeowners who claim their property values and lifestyles have been damaged by underground pollution from Gelman Sciences will have their day — or perhaps weeks — in court, starting Wednesday.

A dozen homeowners, led by Westover Street resident John M. Scarbrough, allege in a lawsuit that Gelman Sciences disposed of the solvent 1,4-dioxane in such a way that it tainted their well water and diminished the desirability of their neighborhood on the real estate market. They were deprived of enjoyment of their homes by having to go to a nearby hotel to take showers, and to a laundromat for washing their clothes, said Donnelly W. Hadden, the group’s attorney.

Under a state order, homes in the Scio Township subdivision were connected to city of Ann Arbor water and thus annexed into the city in the fall of 1986. Connection to city water supplies damaged some of ‘ the homes’ plumbing and caused owners to pay higher city taxes, Hadden said.

Jury selection begins Wednesday before Circuit Court Judge Patrick J. Conlin, the same judge who is hearing two other suits related to the groundwater contamination under Gelman Sciences’ Wagner Road plant.

In March, the group of homeowners reached an out-of-court settlement with all but one of Gelman’s co-defendants, chemical manufacturers and distributors including the Dow Chemical Co., Union Carbide Corp. and Ashland Chemical Co.

A Detroit firm, PVS-Nolwood Chemicals Inc., remains a defendant in the case brought by 27 homeowners from 15 homes, Hadden said. Gelman Sciences has settled with 15 of the homeowners.

Gelman Attorney David H. Fink said the group received $100,000 in the settlement with Dow, Union Carbide and Ashland. “I thought it was a lot of money for (companies) that are claiming they don’t have any responsibility,” he said.

Gelman Sciences also is pursuing a case against Dow, Union Carbide and Ashland in which Fink is seeking testimony from former board chairmen of Dow Chemical. The firms manufactured and distributed 1,4-dioxane, the solvent that Gelman Sciences used and which has been found in wells as much as a mile away from the plant.

Judge Conlin earlier dismissed the homeowners’ claims citing fears of future health effects from exposure to the pollution. Hadden said the trial might take “six weeks, maybe a little more.”

That may seem like a sprint compared to the year-old battle in which the Michigan attorney general is trying to get a court order to make Gelman Sciences clean up contaminated groundwater.

“It will be more fun and a lot faster,” Fink said.

Negotiations are continuing in the state suit, but no agreement has been struck, Fink said. Two weeks ago he and Gelman Sciences Chairman Charles Gelman predicted a settlement by Nov. 7.

Under an earlier ruling by Judge Conlin, all of Gelman’s defense attorney costs are being paid for by the Fireman’s Fund Insurance Co.