Contractor Magazine
By Robert P. Mader
December 12, 2000
Lisle, Ill.—A group of homeowners in suburban Chicago has filed suit against Lockformer Co., alleging that the manufacturer of sheet metal fabricating equipment contaminated their groundwater supply with trichloroethylene. TCE is a solvent that was used by Lockformer as a degreaser.
"TCE is regulated as a carcinogen," said Ed Manzke, an attorney with the Collins Law Firm, which is representing the homeowners. "It causes liver problems, kidney problems, heart problems. It can cause convulsions, neurological deficits and immune system problems, as well as a host of other things."
The plaintiffs are seeking a safe domestic water supply, compensation for the lost value of their homes, and other compensatory and punitive damages. Because about 100 homes use water wells in the area near the Lockformer facility, the plaintiffs are asking for the suit to be certified as a class action.
"Regrettably, I can't comment on pending litigation," said Lockformer's attorney Dan Biederman.
Lockformer is owned by Met-Coil, which was bought by Westfield, Mass.-based Mestek Inc. in June.
The suit claims that Lockformer has used the site since 1968 and has degreased metal parts with a degreasing pit that was supplied with TCE from a rooftop tank. The solvent was continually spilled on the ground for more than 25 years, the suit claims, and it was also used to clean the floor of the facility.
In 1992, according to the suit, Lockformer discovered that the ground around the plant was contaminated with TCE at levels 10,000 times higher than the standards allowed for drinking water by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. After the extent of the contamination was discovered, Lockformer became part of the Illinois Site Remediation Program under the Illinois EPA.
It did not, however, tell its neighbors about the TCE, the suit states.
On Jan. 12, 1999, the Illinois EPA issued a press release discussing the success of pollution remediation programs. The release states: "Lisle ranked eighth out of 99 cities in Illinois with reduced emissions of these chemicals from 1996 to 1997, showing a decline of 69,393 lb., or 74%. All of this reduction was from decreased emissions of nickel, trichloroethylene and chromium from The Lockformer Co. Lockformer reported using modifications to equipment, layout or piping to help achieve the reductions in trichloroethylene emissions."
In August 2000, Lockformer asked the Board of Trustees of the Village of Lisle to pass an ordinance banning water well drilling within 100-ft. of its property. The purpose of seeking that ordinance, said plaintiff's attorney Manzke, was to get a No Further Remediation Letter from the Illinois EPA.
"That would give them a 'go-card' to wrap up testing and they could also sell their property," Manzke said.
That August request of the Lisle board was the first that neighbors heard about the alleged contamination, the suit states. The plaintiffs hired an engineering consultant to test their groundwater supplies, which were found to be contaminated with TCE.
"Based upon the information reviewed and the initial test results, plaintiffs' consultant has calculated that TCE from defendants' properties migrated off those properties and into plaintiffs' water source beginning at least 20 years ago," the suit reads. "Additionally, plaintiffs' consultant believes there is no other likely source of the contamination in plaintiffs' wells."
Manzke said the homeowners want Lockformer to pay to connect them to the municipal water supply, at a cost of $4,000 to $7,000 per house. They also want compensation for the lost value of their property.
"They now have to disclose that they have contamination, and it may make it impossible to sell," he said. "Would you move your family into a home on a contaminated water source?"
The homeowners also want to be compensated for any medical problems that might arise and to receive other compensatory and punitive damages.
"They [Lockformer] knew about it for a long time, and people for the last eight or nine years have been living with the contaminated water, drinking it, cooking with it, bathing in it, and that may have caused serious health problems," Manzke said. "If they knew about it, these people should have been informed and they weren't."
