By Tom Wilber
Press & Sun-Bulletin

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ENDICOTT — Negotiations to settle more than $100 million in health and property claims related to pollution from the former IBM factory have failed, leaving attorneys representing nearly 1,000 area clients planning to file a lawsuit against the company in January.

IBM’s offer of $3 million to settle all claims, with a release from further action, fell well short of expectation, according to a letter dated Nov. 27 from Levene Gouldin & Thompson to clients.

The plaintiffs will move ahead with litigation “based on these very disappointing developments, especially in light of more than three years we had spent meeting with IBM in what we always assumed was good faith bargaining,” the letter states.

A group of lawyers representing the plaintiffs are meeting in Philadelphia Thursday to plan the next step.

According to the letter, the $3 million did not include personal injury claims, which IBM believes are without merit. But the settlement would include a provision that would release the company from those claims, anyway.

The claims stem from a subterranean plume of trichloroethylene (TCE) found to be creating fumes and wafting into homes and buildings near the plant.

Lawyers for IBM cited changes in the company’s management that created “a new attitude … concerning claims arising from chemical contamination, and the type of litigation through which contamination claims are asserted and resolved,” according to the letter.

IBM representatives could not be reached Wednesday night. In the past, the company has declined to comment on litigation as a matter of company policy.

_http://www.star-telegram.com/metro_news/story/322962.html_ (http://www.star-telegram.com/metro_news/story/322962.html) Sun, Nov. 25, 2007 Report assesses

Science News – November 21, 2007 New data on a widely used flame retardant New research suggests that the flame retardant Dechlorane Plus is ubiquitous in

… From: Eric Uram To: CONS-EQST-COMM@… Sent: Wed, 21 Nov 2007 4:47 am Subject: NV mines emit more mercury than

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) New Tools Make Understanding Air Quality Easier Than Ever Contact: Margot Perez-Sullivan, (202) 564-4355/

Zip code 75980 with two counties, Angelina and Jasper scorecard (2002), TRI data is later…but here are some of the polluting facilities:

Friends, Following is the URL to the website of Trevor and Charlie Smith, our fellow NDCA members. Make sure to pull down the “Media” tab for a video of

More diagnoses spur Monday night Q&A on brain cancer By _CHRISTINE S. DIAMOND_ (mailto:cdiamond@…) The Lufkin Daily News Sunday, November 18, 2007

EJ Conference, Inc. is a non-profit organization that was formed in 2007 to produce a national environmental justice conference each year in Washington, DC.

November 24, 2007 at 06:55:35 Toxics Tour Planned to Highlight Environmental Racism by Robert Bullard     Page 1 of 1 page(s) http://www.opednews.com

National Campaign to Spotlight the Deadly Mix of Toxic Racism and TCE Contamination on an African American Family

NASHVILLE, TN, November 23, 2007 – On Thursday, November 29, a coalition of national leaders, representing environmental justice, civil rights, scientists, women’s health, academia, faith-based and religious groups, legal, and elected officials, including congressional staffers, from around the country will meet at Nashville’s Fisk University and board a bus for Dickson, a small town located about 35 miles to the west.   

The national leaders will travel to Dickson and participate in the “Take Back Black Health Toxics Tour” and see for themselves in real time a slam-dunk, in-your-face case of environmental racism.  The tour is sponsored by the National Black Environmental Justice Network (NBEJN), Environmental Justice Resource Center at Clark Atlanta University (EJRC), Race Relation Institute at Fisk University   (RRI), Deep South Center for Environmental Justice at Dillard University (DSCEJ), Detroiters Working for Environmental Justice (DWEJ), and  WE ACT for Environmental Justice, Inc.
(WEACT).  

The tour will highlight the devastating impact of toxic contamination on a black family.  Tour organizers hope to raise awareness and for national leaders to put pressure on Congress to make the elimination of environmental hazards in low-income and people of color communities a national priority issue in the upcoming elections.   Continue Reading »