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August 18, 2007
Residents around the Mound Laboratory, a Department of Energy Nuclear facility located in Miamisburg, Ohio, will have a jury trial of their claims. In an opinion issued on August 17, 2007, Judge Walter Rice ruled that the case will proceed to trial on radioactive emissions in 1961 and hazardous chemical emissions.
"We are pleased that we will have our opportunity in a public forum for the public to learn the truth about what happened at Mound," said attorney Louise Roselle of the law firm of Waite, Schneider, Bayless & Chesley. "Our clients have been waiting for many years for this day."
On September 4, 2007 there will be a telephone conference with Judge Rice for the purpose of setting a trial date for a jury trial. "We are going to press for an early trial date."
Mound is similar to the Feed Materials Production Center at Fernald, Ohio, in that both government facilities released radioactive and nonradioactive chemicals into the air, water and soil over many decades, but the truth was not told to the neighbors. In July 1989, a residents' lawsuit at Fernald was settled for $78 million.
According to a Public Health Assessment of Mound by ATSDR (Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services) there have been numerous instances where the standards for water effluents violated the NPDES permits. The Public Health Assessment also concludes that there have been airborne releases in violation of Federal and Ohio State standards.
According to the Assessment, materials released offsite from Mound include chlorine, suspended solids, oil, copper, iron, strong inorganic acids, citric acid, formic acid, organic solvents, sodium hydroxide, sodium tartrate, formaldehyde and nickel. In addition, the Assessment found that Mound released into the environment radioactive materials including plutonium, polonium, and tritium.
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