NEW ORLEANS - Days before what looked to be a lengthy trial began, Jefferson Parish settled mass tort claims in two lawsuits alleging toxic fumes and noxious odors from the Jefferson Parish Landfill.
On Aug. 9 in New Orleans federal court, parties informed Judge Susie Morgan that the parish had reached an agreement with plaintiffs in both lawsuits it faces that claim the JPL has caused health ailments in the surrounding community while also causing residents to lose the enjoyment of their homes.
The trial in one case, known as Addison, began today with a few defendants remaining. They include Louisiana Regional Landfill Company, Waste Connections Bayou, Waste Connections US and Aptim Corporation.
Terms of the Jefferson Parish settlement are not disclosed in court documents yet. A public records request from the Louisana Record is pending as of presstime.
Litigation started in December 2018 and ultimately turned into a mass tort featuring hundreds of plaintiffs who claim those who designed, operated and maintained the Jefferson Parish Landfill cost them the loss of use and enjoyment of their homes.
Physical injuries alleged include difficulties breathing, nausea, burning eyes, dizziness and lethargy. Plaintiffs have designated Washington, D.C., lawyer C. Allen Foster of Whiteford Taylor Preston as lead trial counsel.
In the past few weeks, Judge Morgan has been deciding plenty of motions on what experts will be able to speak to during trial, like medical causation and alternative sources of odor.
News reports said the odors "terrorized" communities in the parish from 2017-2019, leading to a state-funded air quality monitoring station. Emissions from the J.P. Landfill contained high levels of hydrogen sulfide from large amounts of hydrated lime.
The plaintiffs had filed a motion to exclude evidence of "other sources" of odors that defendants can point at to limit their own liabilities.
That motion said the defendants are attempting to blame the odors on the River Birch and Highway 90 landfills.
"For its part, the Parish hired River Birch to replace Waste Connections as the operator of the Jefferson Parish Landfill, and to fix the myriad problems that existed there," the plaintiffs' motion says.
"In what world would Jefferson Parish have taken this action if River Birch had been the cause of the odors?"
Despite that plea, Judge Morgan turned down the plaintiffs' motion on July 17. She said it improperly would dispose the defendants of their defenses, rather than asking the Court to decide a discrete evidentiary issue.
"Plaintiffs argue evidence related to other sources of odor is irrelevant to Defendants' defenses because Defendants cannot identify 'even one other source of odors' that they contend caused or contributed to Plaintiffs' injuries," she wrote.
"That argument does not touch on the admissibility of evidence at trial based on the risk of unfair prejudice, but rather seeks to use a motion in limine improperly to determine the viability of Defendants' defenses, which the Court would normally consider on a motion for summary judgment."