Source: Wisconsin State Journal, November 8, 2012
Posted on: http://envfpn.advisen.com
Another set of Madison-Kipp’s neighbors has filed a class-action lawsuit against the company seeking compensation for pollutants that they allege have diminished the value of their homes.
The lawsuit was filed on Tuesday by Nancy Sorenson and Richard Johnson, who own a home on South Marquette Street, and Ashley Anderson, who lives on Waubesa Street, in the same block where Kipp is located.
Last year, seven families sued in U.S. District Court in Madison charging that chemicals from the firm, which manufactures precision-machined parts for vehicles, have contaminated their homes. That lawsuit encompasses the owners and residents of 34 properties on the west side of South Marquette Street and the east side of Waubesa Street adjacent to Kipp.
This lawsuit, filed in Dane County Circuit Court, would involve 52 properties located adjacent to the area defined in the federal lawsuit. The same lawyers represent homeowners in both lawsuits.
According to the lawsuit, hazardous substances including tetrachloroethylene, or PCE, and tricholoroethlyene, or TCE, were used and disposed of at the plant over several decades and have migrated in vaporous form into adjacent properties.
Homeowners in the area covered by the lawsuit first learned this year that their properties were threatened by the vapors, the lawsuit states. That contamination has hurt property values, the lawsuit states, and endangers the health of those living in homes within the area.
The lawsuit seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages and asks that the court order Kipp to stop any further contamination.
In September the state Department of Justice sued Kipp for allegedly violating state laws on the reporting and disposal of hazardous wastes.