Monday, April 11, 2005

Lawsuit over chemical leaked from parts plant gets class action status

Associated Press

Comment on this story Send this story to a friend Get Home Delivery

WYOMING, Mich. - A lawsuit over a cancer-causing chemical that leaked from a former General Motors Corp. plant has been awarded class action status.

Vinyl chloride from the Delphi Corp. plant apparently began leaking more than 20 years ago and then spread through the groundwater beneath a large neighborhood. Kent County Circuit Judge Dennis Kolenda approved the class action status April 1 over the objections of Delphi.

About 290 homeowners are involved in the suit.

While some residents fear the tainted water could lead to health problems, the Environmental Protection Agency says the water is far enough underground that people won't come in contact with it. Area residents drink city water, which is not tainted.

But even without a health threat, residents claim in the lawsuit that the contamination will make it difficult to sell their homes and lead to lower property values.

Tests of groundwater at the plant have shown levels of vinyl chloride more than 500 times the amount considered safe in drinking water.

In the neighborhood, where Delphi has sunk about two-dozen monitoring wells as part of an agreement with the EPA, tests have found vinyl chloride in levels up to 22 times higher than the state standard of 2 parts per billion.

Delphi took over the property after it was spun off from GM six years ago, long after the leak was discovered.

The contamination has spread about a half-mile north from the plant, according to reports by hydrologists working for Delphi through an agreement with the EPA. EPA officials said tests indicate the contamination has stopped spreading.

Attorneys for Delphi, the nation's largest auto supplier, claim there are no damages because the neighborhood is served by city water, which is pumped in from Lake Michigan.

By state law, residents must tell potential buyers about the contamination.

"It's like I told the (Delphi) lawyer when he said: `You have city water. Why does it concern you?" said Bonnie Rozema, one of the residents who pursued the class-action suit. "I said, `Hey, would you have bought our house?' He didn't say a thing."

GM opened its Diesel Equipment Division in 1946 on the 96-acre site. The plant covers 45 acres and has made engine parts for cars, planes and diesel vehicles. In 1999, GM spun off its Delphi division, and the plant became known as Delphi Energy & Chassis System.