Jackson Stands Strong in Face of Lawsuit
By Jared Seymour, Staff Writer
6/19/2008
A lawsuit was brought against Jackson Wednesday afternoon, over allegations that the city government was responsible for the health problems of Head Contractor John Sturk. John, according to his attorney, was exposed to a chemical reaction, from unknown chemicals released into the river from Dow, in his work that caused him to develop chronic migraines, due to the negligence of Jackson city in their concern for environmental hazards. They are suing Jackson for 20 million dollars in health care expenditures.
According to Jackson officials, they are not responsible for the chemicals in the river. “Dow representatives had assured the city that they have not violated any laws, or put anyone in danger. We have taken extensive measures to be sure of the safety of the city, including sending a letter to the EPA for dumping records. We received a notice from the EPA that stated that they did not have any dumping records, and only after the suit did we receive another notice from the EPA that warned of unknown chemicals in the river,” Mayor Jeff Petsch reported. “If there was any damage from the Dow chemical’s in the river to the contractor John, which I don’t feel there was, since we had contracted him at Edison Public Park, more than two and a half miles away from the river, it should be brought up to Dow, since not only did we not receive dumping records, Dow gave their assurance that there would be no chemical spills.”
The city attorney would like to have stated that there has been no evidence provided from the contractor’s attorney, and that they demand to be given the evidence.