Neighbors of GE Powerex plant finally to get their day in court, after a 10-year battle.

Town of Aurelius residents’ lawsuit against General Electric Co. for drinking-water-well contamination from its former Powerex facility will move forward, following an Appellate Court decision.

Their case originally was filed in June 2001 alleging negligence due to their well water being contaminated with trichloroethylene (TCE) — associated with kidney, liver and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and other cancers — and vinyl chloride, a cause of liver cancer.

A punitive damages claim was based on documents showing that GE decided against conducting a survey of nearby drinking water wells once the contamination at the Powerex plant was first discovered in the late 1980s, in an attempt to avoid adverse publicity. Residents claimed that this caused them needless exposure for an additional 10 to 12 years and showed reckless disregard for their health and safety.

On July 8, 2011, the New York State Appellate Division, Fourth Department in Rochester affirmed Cayuga County Supreme Court Judge Thomas G. Leone’s earlier ruling denying GE’s motion to dismiss the case. The Appellate Court’s decision means that Baity, et al., v. General Electric Company will proceed as scheduled before Judge Leone in January 2012. More…

Recent advances in biomedical technology are now providing new tools that will help to scientifically establish a causal link between toxic chemical exposure and the development of cancer. This technology should considerably level the playing field and help victims of toxic exposures.

In the past, one of the most difficult aspects of bringing a lawsuit based on toxic chemical exposure has been proving a causal link between the exposure and cancer. Defendants in these cases often file countless motions challenging plaintiffs’ proof on the causation issue. With some regularity, defendants have succeeded in preventing certain cases from being decided by a jury. It has only been in cases involving rare malignancies, like mesothelioma, that establishing the necessary causal connection has been relatively straight-forward. That is because it has been proven that mesothelioma is caused only by exposure to asbestos. More…