Consumer Law

At Long Last, Some Justice in Apollo Pennsylvania

By Joe Consumer

The working-class residents of Apollo and Parks Township Pennsylvania have fought and endured more than any community should ever have to fight and endure.  This sloppy and lethal nuclear fuel plant  ran in Apollo from 1957 until 1983.  In the 1960s, so much weapons-grade uranium went missing from this plant that theft became the likely explanation.  But some of it also ended up in people?s backyards ? and in the air.

In the 1980s, Babcock and Wilcox, designers of the ill-fated TMI nuclear plant, had the bright idea of building a radioactive waste incinerator to dispose of deadly nuclear waste by burning it in the air over this community, which the residents bravely fought and won by passing a local Clean Air Act ordinance.

But unfortunately, injuries and deaths from radioactive contamination from the plant and its ?clean up? multiplied anyway.  And like many community residents who are the victims of toxic pollution, they sued.  Their lawyer was Fred Baron, who tragically passed away late last year.  Fred fought valiantly on behalf of this community for 14 years, saying in 2007, "The case will never be dropped as long as I'm alive."  

Just months after his death, a judge approved on Friday a settlement in the case worth ?$52.5 million for personal injury, wrongful death and property damage to 365 claimants from the Apollo and Parks area.?  This would never have happened without the efforts of relentless activists like Paty Ameno,  who said, "It makes me feel sad that a lot of people who started out are not here -- including my champion and hero Fred Baron.  Fred literally fought on his death bed to make sure that the plaintiffs saw an end to this case."

Full post as published by ThePopTort on April 20, 2009 (boomark / email).