GADSDENSolutia’s environment director Dr. Robert Kaley finished his testimony about the Solutia and Monsanto’s PCB cleanup efforts in the 1980s and 1990s during the Monsanto trial Monday.
Plaintiff attorney Donald Stewart repeatedly asked Kaley, who also testified Thursday, about the status of the PCB cleanup in the Anniston area. “Y’all didn’t do anything, did you?” Stewart said, regarding contamination in Snow and Choccolocco creeks, first discovered in the late 1960s.
Kaley disagreed. He told the Gadsden jury that Solutia has taken appropriate steps to prevent PCB migration from the landfills and other contaminated areas of western Anniston during the 1990s. He also said Monsanto informed the state authorities in the early 1970s about the contamination. He said the “appropriate remedy” for the overall PCB contamination has yet to be determined.
Kaley said he didn’t know why one of the ditches near the former Monsanto plant, originally cleaned of PCBs in the 1980s, now has very high levels of PCBs in its sediment. “I don’t think they came from the landfills,” Kaley said. “I would agree that is unusual.”
Stewart questioned Monsanto’s 1987 evaluation that the PCBs in the two landfills near the plant should be left in place, alleging that it was not undertaken because of the cost. According to a 1987 Monsanto memo, a large-scale PCB cleanup in Anniston would result in “major, undefined expenditures.”
Kaley didn’t disagree that the cost could be significant, but he added that it is his opinion that removing the PCBs from the landfills could cause safety problems.
He described Solutia’s “multi-layer” capping system on the two landfills, which includes an initial layer of clay covered with a thick plastic sheet layer. He said a channelization system for water runoff was constructed above the plastic, and the channelization system is also covered by several feet of clay. The capping system was completed in the mid-1990s, according to Kaley.
Kaley is one of the final witnesses to be called by the plaintiff attorneys, who began presenting the first phase of the case to the jury Jan. 9 and is expect to rest their case today, after testimony from their real estate expert. The 16 plaintiffs in this phase of the trial allege property damage and emotional distress due to PCB contamination on their land and in their blood. In the next potential phase of the Bowie vs. Monsanto trial, a small percentage of the 54 plaintiffs will allege personal injury and neurodevelopmental damages. Overall, as many as 800 of the total 3,500 plaintiffs in the trial allege illnesses caused by PCBs.
Monsanto attorneys are expected to begin presenting their defense to the jury this week. Attorney Jere White told Circuit Judge Joel Laird the testimony for the defense will last approximately five days.
Meanwhile, defense attorneys have submitted to Laird their plan to resume question-and-answer sessions (depositions) with plaintiffs in the second phase of the case. Last Friday, the judge ordered the attorneys to resume the depositions and keep him informed of their progress.
The jury’s opinion of Monsanto’s liability in the first phase of the case will determine whether the rest of the Bowie case will proceed or be dismissed. The jury’s opinion will also assist Laird’s determination of whether he should grant injunctive relief for the plaintiffs — which could include measures such as dredging the waterways and excavating the landfills.
