Capitol Observations - Wednesday, February 22, 2006 13:45 - 0 Comments

Update On Air Pollution Verdict Against Continental Carbon

Last month, U. S. District Judge Mark E. Fuller entered an Order denying the post-trial motions of two defendants in a very serious air pollution case that our firm has been working on. In the motions filed by Continental Carbon and its parent company, China Synthetic Rubber Corporation, the defendants had asked the Court to reverse the jury award of $20,709,000 entered on behalf of our firm’s clients, the City of Columbus, Georgia, Action Marine, Inc., and two individual plaintiffs. In its order, the Court refused to grant the defendants’ request for a new trial or reduce the size of the jury’s award. The jury’s verdict consisted of $1.9 million in compensatory damages, $1,294,000 in case-related expenses and $17.5 million in punitive damages. Although the defendants still have the option of appealing this case to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta, the District Court’s Order is an extremely promising development for our clients who have suffered years of harm due to carbon black air pollution released by the defendants’ plant, which is located in Phenix City, Alabama. David Byrne from our firm has been working hard on this case and has done a great job.