out that that leached out of the gas and went into the groundwater, which was contaminated in various areas throughout the United States. This led to millions (if not hundreds of millions) of dollars in monitoring costs, building new facilities, operations and maintenance. Fortunately, there were not a lot of personal injuries, but it was damage to the environment and damage to the environment. In cases such as these which make it to trial, how is liability typically demonstrated? We have to go about it in a number of ways. Ultimately, the proof is through expert testimony. We have experts in air quality, water quality, the types of releases that cause the various environmental damages, and of course medical personnel who are involved particularly in environmental causes of cancers and pulmonary injuries. All of those types of injuries of that nature. Taking a wider look at things, what significant developments in environmental law and litigation have you observed during your time in practice? Well, I have been in practice since 1975, and the area of environmental law – although it has always been out there to a degree in the tort system and in the American jurisprudence – is becoming more and more important every day. Recently, Congress has begun passing laws in respect to what are called ‘forever chemicals’ (PFAS). So the knowledge of the dangers and the problems caused by environmental exposures is certainly becoming more widely known every day. People understand the dangers caused by toxic releases, by various chemicals that were thought years ago to be either safe or less harmful than we now know that they are. With that increased awareness on the rise, do you see similar major developments on the horizon for environmental law and victims’ compensation? Yes, though it all depends. For instance, I was intimately involved in the litigation involving the World Trade Center several years ago as a result of its collapse. Virtually every toxin known to mankind was involved, whether it was in the end or in the ground. As a result of that, we represented over 11,000 individuals who received compensation, and then a law was enacted by Congress – the Zadroga Act – which goes on basically to the end of this century. The law enables people exposed to the toxins to make a claim and be compensated for various cancers and, again, pulmonary injuries. I believe the same type of thing will happen with this currently ongoing Camp Lejeune litigation. Hundreds of thousands of victims who were exposed to these toxins over many decades will hopefully compensated in a way that will be relatively quick and make sure that people who were exposed over 50 years ago – if they are still alive – will be likewise compensated. 26 LAWYER MONTHLY JUNE 2023 I believe that the civil justice system is one of the primary ways where we are able to right wrongs – whether it be by negligence or harm in the environment. While we are on the topic of environmental law and compensation, is there anything that you would like to add to the discussion? As I mentioned earlier, there has been a lot of publicity recently with respect to train derailments, and particularly the one in Palestine, Ohio, where a Norfolk Southern train was derailed while carrying many carloads of toxin that may be contaminating the soil, the air and the water. Currently the investigation to determine the extent of the damage is ongoing. It does appear that, since this derailment, there have been a number of additional derailments of trains - and apparently several were carrying various toxins that, again, must be investigated to determine what happened to the soil, the groundwater and the air. I also mentioned incinerators that have been negligently burning and causing contamination in the air from the various types of substances that incinerators are permitted to burn and get rid of, yet which often burn out of control. Finally, as a part of the legislation that enacted the law with regard to Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, another aspect of that law had to deal with the burn pits in Afghanistan and Iraq and the types of materials that were burned by the United States Armed Forces in those areas, once again causing serious harm to the environment and the air in particular.
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