236 Lockheed Plaintiffs Dismissed

September 5, 2000

082364.html

Saturday, September 2, 2000

News from Burbank in the Los Angeles Times

By JEAN GUCCIONE

A judge dismissed on Friday the claims of more than 200 residents who

had alleged that toxic contamination from Lockheed 's Burbank

operations made them ill and caused their property values to decrease.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Carl J. West further reduced

the number of plaintiffs in a once-massive lawsuit which claims the

aerospace giant caused cancer and other illnesses among Burbank residents by

releasing toxic chemicals into the soil and ground water over decades of

defense manufacturing.

Now, there are fewer than 200 plaintiffs left in the state lawsuit that

once included 2,400 residents, said G. Foley, an attorney for the

residents.

Most of the 236 plaintiffs were dismissed Friday because they failed to

provide their lawyers information needed to support their legal claims, West

said.

In addition to those plaintiffs, hundreds more have voluntarily

withdrawn their claims against Lockheed, some under a provision of state law

that allows them to back out without any legal consequences. Lockheed had

warned plaintiffs that they could be held liable for the defense

contractor's legal costs, if Lockheed won at trial.

Earlier this year, West threw out a test case involving 140 plaintiffs,

saying they did not provide either scientific or medical evidence to show

their illnesses were caused by toxic emissions from Lockheed's Burbank

facilities.

The plaintiffs in the test case are appealing that decision.

The lawsuit was filed in 1996, after published reports that Lockheed

paid $60 million to more than 1,200 Burbank residents in a confidential

settlement of similar claims. Although Lockheed paid those residents,

company officials have vowed to fight all further suits.

" They have had four years now to try to prove their claims and they

have been unable to do it, " said Gail E. Rymer, a Lockheed spokeswoman. " So

it's time to close the books

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