Landowners win Rocky Flats case
DENVER – Ruling in a 16-year-old case, a federal jury recommended Tuesday that Dow Chemical Co. and the former Rockwell International Corp. pay $553.9 million to thousands of property owners who claimed their land was contaminated by plutonium from the former Rocky Flats nuclear weapons plant.
The jury concluded the two companies damaged private property around the site through negligence that caused “class members to be exposed to plutonium and (placed) them at some increased risk of health problems.” The lawsuit was filed in 1990 on behalf of 13,000 people.
The jury also said the damage from the radioactive material may never go away.
The verdict called for punitive damages of $110.8 million against Dow Chemical and $89.4 million against Rockwell. The jury also recommended the companies pay some $352 million in actual damages.
The final award is likely to be less because of limits in state and federal law, but could still reach $352 million after U.S. District Judge John Kane reviews the verdict, said Louise Roselle, an attorney for some of the plaintiffs.
The verdict was “a real testament to the courage of these citizens who stood up and said this is wrong,” said Bruce DeBoskey, who spent 12 years on the case.
“These citizens deserved to be compensated for their losses,” he said. “This isn’t a windfall, this is making up for what these people lost.”
Dow said in a statement it would appeal, saying the judge improperly instructed the jury. The company said property values in the area have increased and scientific studies have shown no harm to residents’ health or property.
Attorneys have said the government would cover any damages and legal bills for the companies because they were contractors operating the sprawling Cold War site near Denver on behalf of the Energy Department.
A department spokesman did not immediately return an after-hours message.
Jury deliberations in the class-action lawsuit took 18 days and followed a four-month trial. The suit claimed the plant contaminated neighboring land, driving down property values.
The now-defunct site made plutonium triggers for nuclear warheads for decades before it was closed in 1989. Much of the 6,240-acre site will be transformed into a wildlife refuge, and last year, a contractor declared a 10-year, $7 billion clean-up project complete.
Rockwell, based in Milwaukee and now known as Rockwell Automation, and Midland, Mich.-based Dow Chemical operated the plant at separate times under contract with the government.
The lawsuit claimed they intentionally mishandled radioactive waste for decades and then tried to cover it up. Defense attorney David Bernick said claims of a cover-up were wrongheaded and that contamination off-site was unintentional and minuscule.
After the verdict, Bernick said the judge made significant mistakes in instructing the jury.
Among other things, Bernick said, the jury was allowed to award damages if it determined the companies were responsible for even one atom of plutonium on the plaintiffs’ properties.
He also said the judge wrongly allowed certain testimony, including claims that the Energy Department was a conspirator.
Dow operated the plant from the 1950s until 1975; Rockwell ran it from 1975 until the plant was shut down.