BAREC Neighbors Allege State and Chemical Company Negligence in Lawsuit
By Carolyn Schuk
In its heyday, plants grew in the soil at BAREC, the former UC agricultural station on Winchester Blvd. In retirement, that same soil is supplying a fertile field for litigation.
Last February, 131 present and past residents of streets directly adjoining BAREC brought a lawsuit against the State of California, the UC Board of Regents, the California Department of General Services, and the Velsicol Chemical Co.
The plaintiffs are seeking financial damages and for illnesses, deaths and reduced property values caused by toxics in the soil and air from the agricultural station's eight decades of pesticide research. Additionally, they are asking for punitive damages against Velsicol.
"Approximately 50 [of the 131 bringing the suit] have cancer-related claims," says their attorney Gordon Stemple of Fresno, a well-known lawyer whose specialty is toxic litigation. "There are families with as many as four cancers in the household."
In addition to a well-publicized test of soil on the BAREC site, Stemple has also been conducting tests of soil and dust in neighboring homes.
"Whenever we've sampled soil in the yards of clients, we’re seeing what appears to be a common pattern – very similar to toxics found on BAREC by the state, the same 'footprint.'"
Dust samples are equally important, Stemple explains. "Microbial action tends to affect toxics in the soil, while dust – for example in the attic – can preserve the original content more accurately."
Stemple is also going to conduct epidemiological studies of the immediate BAREC area, to verify what appears to be a "very significant number" of cancer cases. "There are a lot of people who have been affected," he says. "Not only with cancer, but with birth defects, Parkinson's and other illnesses related to toxics exposure."
In the post-WWII period when Santa Clara grew dramatically, little thought was given to the health risks of toxic residues in the environment.
While few people thought about environmental toxics in the 50's, Stemple says, there was ample information available to researchers and chemical companies designing pesticide test programs. He gives the example of substances like DBCT, which was used in WWII weaponry and found a peacetime use killing nematodes.
Stemple faults the way the state has handled residential development in the area over the past 60 years, contrasting it with Santana Row, which wasn't used for testing pesticides. "There's a three foot cement cap over the entire area and no children or families will be living on the ground floor."
"The question from 1950 to 2003 is why nobody involved from a management standpoint thought this operation should be shut down," Stemple says. "An operation so close [to homes] that neighbors could put their fingers through a chain link fence and touch the soil.
"If you look at other agricultural test stations," he adds, "you see that BAREC is the only agricultural station testing toxics within two miles of a residential area."
Carolyn Schuk can be reached at cschuk@earthlink.net.
