Suit Seeks Relief for Persons with Property Damage from Chlorine Spill
BARNWELL and CHARLESTON, S.C., Jan. 21 2005 – LAWFUEL – The Law News Network — Motley Rice LLC and W. Mullins McLeod, Jr., today announced that they have filed a lawsuit seeking relief for persons with property damage resulting from the Graniteville train disaster.
Named as defendants are railroad Norfolk Southern, the Union Tank
Car Company which manufactured the tank cars carrying the chlorine in the
deadly Graniteville train crash; the Olin Corporation which manufactured and
shipped the deadly chlorine; and the Norfolk Southern employees, who allegedly
failed to set the switch after they left their train on an active track.
Motley Rice LLC has also been retained to handle a number of the personal
injury and death cases as they relate to this catastrophe and those claims are
being handled in separate lawsuits.
“We believe this lawsuit will encourage the defendants to accept
responsibility, and provide the property clean-up, replacement or payment as
they are obligated to do under the law,” explained founding member of Motley
Rice, Ron Motley.
According to Motley Rice founding member, Joe Rice, “Our community
welcomed and trusted the railroad, but now our community is damaged and our
citizens need immediate help in the clean-up and replacement of their
property. This lawsuit seeks to help South Carolinians with property in South
Carolina. We are hopeful that the named defendants will come forward quickly
and help these innocent victims as they attempt to return to their homes.”
According to W. Mullins McLeod, Jr., this is precisely why the plaintiffs
in the case are limited to state residents with property in the evacuation
zone. “The railroad, the tank car company, and the manufacturer and shipper
of the chlorine all have the obligation to ensure that in working in, and
passing through, our community and state they do not harm our property,”
stated McLeod.
The class action lawsuit seeks an immediate clean-up program for all
afflicted persons with damage to their real or personal property. Buildings
will need to be cleaned, painted, re-wired and inspected. Personal property
will need to be cleaned, repaired or replaced. Destroyed goods such as food,
clothing, electrical and electronic equipment and furniture will need to be
replaced. “This community needs help now,” said Rice.
“Railroads are entrusted with vast access and right-of-way in our
communities and our nation, but they have such rights only insofar as they
comply with the regulations governing safe operations of both rail and
hazardous materials transport,” said Motley Rice member Mary Schiavo, former
Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Transportation in Washington,
D.C., which has oversight authority over the railroads. “Norfolk Southern and
others failed to comply with those laws, regulations, and standards, and
failed to put in place known and recommended practices which absolutely would
have prevented this deadly crash.”
About Motley Rice LLC
Motley Rice LLC is one of the nation’s largest plaintiffs’ litigation and
transportation disaster firms. Motley Rice attorneys have gained global
recognition for their pioneering work on behalf of asbestos victims, the State
Attorneys General in their landmark litigation against Big Tobacco, and the
9/11 families in their groundbreaking lawsuit against terrorist financiers.
Motley Rice attorneys continue to seek justice in the areas of: catastrophic
injury; complex case resolution; consumer and commercial fraud; environmental
hazards and contamination; medical negligence and defects; occupational
disease and toxic torts; and transportation defects and mass disasters. For
more information on Motley Rice LLC call 1-800-768-4026 or
visit http://www.motleyrice.com .
About W. Mullins McLeod, Jr.
W. Mullins McLeod, Jr. is a founding member of Pierce, Herns, Sloan &
McLeod. The Firm has litigated complex product liability cases in most states
on the East Coast. Following law school, he served as law clerk for the then
Circuit Court Judge and now Associate Justice to the South Carolina Supreme
Court, Costa M. Pleicones. His areas of practice include product liability,
general negligence and toxic torts with an emphasis on railroad cases. He has
successfully represented numerous victims of grade crossing cases and injured
railroad men under the Federal Employers Liability Act. McLeod is currently
serving his second term as Chairman of the Charleston County Democratic Party.
