Lockheed Prevails in Pollution Suit

Dealing a potential blow to the legal claims of thousands of Burbank-area residents, a state judge has rejected allegations that Lockheed Martin caused cancer and other illnesses when it released toxic chemicals into ground water and soil during decades of defense manufacturing.

In a test case involving 140 plaintiffs, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Carl J. West ruled late Tuesday that they had failed to provide acceptable evidence or witnesses to back up their contention the Bethesda, Md.-based firm was responsible for their ailments.

“Lockheed provides three epidemiological studies that show the cancer incidence in Burbank is not statistically higher than the rest of Los Angeles County,” West wrote in a 49-page ruling. “Plaintiffs provide no epidemiological study.”

The decision could prove to be a crushing setback for the larger case. More than 3,000 residents also are suing Lockheed and five small Burbank businesses over toxic contamination to neighborhoods surrounding the site of the famed Skunk Works defense plant.

The plaintiffs’ lawyers were undeterred by the decision, saying that they would ask the trial judge to limit his ruling to the 140 plaintiffs, and file an appeal. West set a hearing later this month to decide whether to rule in favor of Lockheed in all of the remaining cases.

“We view the case as alive and well,” said Allan A. Sigel, one of the plaintiffs’ attorneys. “We simply have a disagreement with the interpretation of the scientific evidence. We hope, by appellate review, to correct that misinterpretation.”

Lockheed Martin spokeswoman Gail Rymer said the plaintiffs did not do the work necessary to prove their case, evidenced by judge’s exclusion of their expert witnesses and their failure to counter Lockheed’s epidemiological studies.

“The plaintiffs have said they are sick because of Lockheed Martin,” Rymer said. “If anything, however, the judge’s decision shows they did not present any credible evidence to that effect and that all along, there was no greater cancer risk in Burbank as a result of Lockheed’s operations.”

Cancer-causing compounds were first discovered in the ground water and soil beneath the company’s Burbank industrial sites in 1980. Eight years later, extensive monitoring and testing by federal, state and local agencies revealed that the water was undrinkable and the soil toxic.

Lockheed and other companies agreed in 1992 to pay $265 million to clean up toxic compounds originally used as solvents, such as perchloroethylene, trichloroethylene and hexavalent chromium.

Thousands of residents blamed the defense firm for alleged health problems and declining property values--troubles, they allege, that are related to the now-closed facility’s discharge of carcinogens and other hazardous substances.

The first lawsuits were filed in 1996, after Lockheed secretly paid out $60 million in an out-of-court settlement to nearly 1,300 residents for health problems resulting from toxic exposure.

Since then, 27 cases involving more than 3,100 residents have been filed in state court against Lockheed and five area businesses.

The main issue is whether cancer and other ailments were caused by more than 30 different toxic chemicals the plaintiffs claimed were discharged by Lockheed and the other businesses into ground water and air during its 63 years of operation in Burbank.

To make the litigation more manageable, the judge consolidated the cases into one, then pulled out the 140 plaintiffs for the test case. In it, their lawyers were limited by the judge to arguing claims against Lockheed involving the three most toxic of the 33 chemicals they had alleged caused the injury.

“Since the court found no causation for only these three chemicals, this doesn’t prejudge whether the remaining chemicals used by Lockheed indeed caused cancer or any other injury to the remaining 2,400 plaintiffs,” said attorney Thomas G. Foley Jr., who represents the plaintiffs. “They are entitled under due process to have their day in court.”

The judge has slowly whittled away the plaintiffs’ case, having already dismissed claims alleging property damage, battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

On Tuesday, West granted Lockheed’s motions to exclude key plaintiffs’ witnesses and expert testimony, saying they did not prove causation.

To do so, the plaintiffs would have had to prove their injuries were caused by Lockheed’s conduct and exposure to sufficiently high levels of the toxic substances.

Tuesday’s court decision was the second significant court victory for Lockheed Martin this year related to the Burbank site.

In January, the aerospace giant reached a settlement with the U.S. government, which agreed to pay Lockheed Martin half of the $265 million it has spent since 1992 to clean up Burbank contamination.