Burns Charest: Communities File Class Action Claiming Contamination from Telecom Giants’ Toxic Lead Cables
July 17 2024 - 10:00AM
Business Wire
Lawsuit cites health risks as lead has leached
into groundwater and soil
Two cities and a southern Louisiana parish have filed a proposed
class action lawsuit against AT&T (NYSE:T) and Lumen
Technologies (NYSE: LUMN), alleging that the companies failed to
remove lead-wrapped telecommunications cables that have
contaminated soil and groundwater in the region.
The litigation filed in state district court on behalf of St.
Mary Parish, the cities of New Iberia and Franklin, and affected
individuals claims that the companies have known for years about
potential health risks from the deteriorating cables. According to
federal and state authorities, exposure to lead can build over time
and cause significant health issues for children and adults,
particularly women of child-bearing age.
“Over decades, these companies ignored the dangers, then more
recently acknowledged the dangers, but they still have not
developed an actionable plan to remediate the dangers,” says Korey
Nelson, an attorney in the New Orleans office of Burns Charest LLP.
“Through this lawsuit, we intend to discover corporate records that
document exactly where these cables exist throughout the state of
Louisiana and anticipate many other local governments and
individuals will be affected.”
Last year, The Wall Street Journal published a series of
articles about the continued existence of lead-covered telephone
cables throughout the nation. The reports detailed health hazards
that the cables represent for telephone company workers and for
residents, despite assertions by former company executives that
leaving the cables in place was safer and less costly than removing
them as newer technologies such as fiber optics were
introduced.
The Journal series includes reports of tests conducted around
the nation showing high levels of lead in areas near the
cables.
The lawsuit seeks damages for trespass and negligence against
the defendants, claiming that the known health risks “will continue
until the cables are removed, the contamination is stopped, and the
properties are restored to their original, uncontaminated
condition.”
Plaintiffs are represented by Korey Nelson and Amanda Klevorn of
Burns Charest along with attorneys Barry Sallinger of Lafayette and
Robert C. Vines of New Iberia.
The case is Parish of St. Mary et al. v. Lumen Technologies, Inc
and AT&T, Inc., No. 13575 filed in the 16th Judicial District
Court for the Parish of St. Mary.
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