Florala

The Colom Law Firm is pursuing litigation against Louisiana Pacific and PACTIV over toxic contamination in the vicinity of the towns of Florala and Lockhart, Alabama.

Louisiana Pacific and PACTIV operated a wood treatment facility in Florala that released vast amounts of air and water-borne toxins into the surrounding communities. The facility, which was located within a mile of the high school in Florala, pressure-treated wood products with pentachlorophenol, creosote and CCA (a mixture of chromium, copper and arsenic). All of these chemicals are recognized by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry as human carcinogens.

During its years of operation, workers at the plant were not only deceived about the harmful nature of the chemicals they handled on a day-to-day basis, but they were told to improperly dispose of tainted wood and other waste products. Contaminated wood was routinely burned in on-site boilers, and barrels full of waste material were buried at various locations around the site. Furthermore, holding tanks were regularly emptied into a nearby creek.

Employees were also told to cover up the illegal activities at the plant. Workers would dilute water in testing wells by adding clean water to them, and monitoring equipment in smokestacks was turned off while contaminated wood products were being burned.

When these illegal activities were combined with unsafe work practices at the plant, massive amounts of harmful chemicals were released into the environment around Florala. As a result, the communities of Florala and Lockhart have extremely high incidences of certain types of cancer, respiratory diseases and reproductive disorders, all of which can be linked with a high degree of medical certainty to exposure to these chemicals.