Posted on 07/26/2003 10:09:36 AM PDT by mwyounce
Dr. Jack Kevorkian, imprisoned in Michigan for assisted suicide, is being called upon as an expert witness to help in a pollution case in Brunswick.
But don't expect the man known nationally as Dr. Death to appear in a Glynn County courtroom.
Lawyers for the nearly 200 people suing the former owners of a chemical plant on the Turtle River are planning to present his testimony by either a written or taped deposition.
Kevorkian is serving 10 to 25 years in prison after giving CBS a videotape of one of his physician-assisted suicides.
"Back in the 1970s he was doing research on mercury and its toxicity," said Robert Killian, a Brunswick lawyer who is representing the plaintiffs in the class action lawsuit.
"During discovery [of evidence held by the other side], we found documents that said he had contacted the Chlorine Institute, which is best described as a chemical clearinghouse, of which Allied [the defendant] was a member."
Though Kevorkian had not studied the area around the former LCP Chemicals site on the Turtle River, lawyers for the plaintiffs decided to question him as an expert witness to find out if he can help explain what might have happened there. (An expert witness is a person with recognized expertise in a particular field who helps the judge or jury understand the facts in a case. He or she does not testify about what actually happened.)
The Turtle River lawsuit, which was filed in 1995, contends that mercury, PCBs and other hazardous wastes were released into the waters around the site, and have contaminated the river and nearby property.
The plaintiffs are primarily landowners near the river and on the marshes near the former LCP Chemicals site. Their lawsuit contends that waste from the plant polluted their property and reduced their use of it.
"These people live on waters that have been closed to fishing because of contamination. We want the rivers and the marches to be cleaned up, as well as [monetary] damages," Killian said.
Kevorkian will give his deposition from prison, where attorneys from both sides will have an opportunity to question him, Killian said.
For Glynn County resident Frank Owens, who along with wife Judy, are named plaintiffs in the case, news of Kevorkian's involvement came as a surprise.
"It's really wild. It's strange to think that he will be part of the case, but they [attorneys for the plaintiffs] are obviously doing their homework," Owens said.
The defendant, Allied Signal, operated the Turtle River site from 1955 to 1979, when it was sold to LCP Chemicals. During that time, Allied manufactured sodium hydroxide, chlorine and hydrochloric acid through a process involving mercury.
It is the remnants of those chemicals and mercury, an element, that the lawsuit alleges were washed into waterways that concern Owens and other plaintiffs.
"The scary thing is the element of the unknown," said Owens, who is especially concerned for the welfare of his 9-year-old daughter. "We try not to drink the water, and we try to take extra precaution, because you just don't know what could happen."
Owens' fears are not unfounded, said Daniel Parshley of the Glynn Environmental Coalition. Parshley said that mercury can remain in soil and water for long periods of time.
The chemical plant was closed in 1994, shortly after the state Environmental Protection Division revoked its operating permits. The site is currently on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Superfund list for cleanup.
In 2001, former LCP Chemicals employees were awarded $17 million after they filed a class action lawsuit against Allied, claiming they were exposed to substantial health risks.
In the landowners' lawsuit, a Georgia Court of Appeals denied Allied's request for an early appeal May 28. Killian said he hopes the suit will be sent back to Glynn County Superior Court and heard by a jury.
Kevorkian began his prison sentence in April 1999. A review of his case was turned down by the U.S. Supreme Court in October.
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