Walker, LA: (Sep-06-07) A class action lawsuit was brought against Combustion Inc., a waste oil receiving site where hazardous chemicals from three states were dumped, alleging that the waste site caused much pain and anguish for thousands of residents of the area. The suit named 389 companies and about 900 insurance companies as defendants.
In a settlement reached, the defendants agreed to pay $131 million to resolve the lawsuit, with $4.5 million going to build the Livingston Literacy and Technology Center. Sources say that since the Combustion waste site caused a severe inconvenience to the residents, the center built with part of the settlement funds provides a great benefit to the people of the area. Combustion became a Superfund site that was cleaned up at a cost of $12 million. The judge for the US District Court for the Western District of Louisiana said that the case was the largest class action lawsuit of its kind in terms of the number of defendants. [THE ADVOCATE: HAZARDOUS WASTE]
