Headlines
Cancer Lawsuits Mount
12/02/2006
By KEVIN P. CRAVER
kcraver@nwherald.com
Lance Kuhns felt that he was the victim of extraordinarily bad luck when doctors diagnosed him 13 years ago with a rare but treatable type of brain tumor.
The Crystal Lake resident, who grew up by McCullom Lake and spent many summers swimming in it, chalked his affliction up to coincidence. But with a slew of lawsuits filed against area manufacturers by residents with brain tumors, he no longer is so sure.
"My sister read about that in the newspaper, and I said, ‘That’s me,’"Kuhns said.
Lawsuits filed Friday on behalf of Kuhns and two other people with McCullom Lake connections brings to 15 the number of brain-cancer victims demanding compensation from five Ringwood manufacturers that they accuse of polluting groundwater and air with carcinogenic solvents.
The defendants in the lawsuits are Rohm and Haas Chemicals, Morton International, Huntsman, Huntsman Polyurethanes, and Modine Manufacturing Co. The lawsuits, filed steadily since April, claim that decades of dumping at a chemical landfill and industrial accidents seeped into the wells that residents relied on for drinking water.
Lawsuits also accuse the companies of shooting contaminants into the air through an air-stripping system they installed to remove chemicals from the groundwater.
Philadelphia attorney Aaron Freiwald filed lawsuits on behalf of Kuhns, 40-year McCullom Lake resident Julianna Mass, and the late Kenneth Betts, who owned the Cullom Knoll Restaurant in McCullom Lake. He expects at least three more lawsuits, and does not believe that they will stop anytime soon.
"I certainly wish it would stop," Freiwald said. "The case of Mrs. Mass is particularly disturbing, because she was just diagnosed a few weeks ago. There have been four people who have been diagnosed with glioblastoma multiforme just within the last few months."
Rohm and Haas has acknowledged the groundwater pollution. The company has drilled wells since the 1980s to monitor the plume of groundwater contamination and later installed an air-stripping system to get rid of it. But they disagree that the plume ever came close to wells in McCullom Lake, about a mile to the southeast, and vehemently deny that their operations made people ill.
Rohm and Haas spokesman Syd Havely and Huntsman spokesman Don Olson could not be reached for comment Friday.
Officials at the McHenry County Department of Health share Rohm and Haas’ skepticism. Director Pat McNulty has said that cancer cases in the area were not above average, and that only one of the nine wells it sampled earlier this year tested positive for volatile organic compounds, but at levels far below what the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency considers dangerous.
But the county used cancer data that ended in 2003, before most of the plaintiffs were diagnosed. Also, Freiwald said, the positive test shows that the contaminants could indeed get into the water supply. He also questioned Rohm and Haas' mapping of the plume, which the county relied on in part.
Freiwald said he had been busy interviewing former employees and said he had acquired reams of documents to support the cases.
Kuhns, 54, has fared better than other plaintiffs. He works at Michaels, an arts and crafts store in Algonquin, and has a normal life. But he said he joined the lawsuit because he did not know what the future could bring, or what else he might have been exposed to in the lake.
"I just have to take [medicine] for seizures for the rest of my life, but aside from that, I seem to be OK," Kuhns said. "I don’t know what’s going to happen in the future, but by the grace of God, I’m able to work."
New McCullom Lake brain cancer plaintiffs
– The estate of Kenneth Betts Sr., who died in 1994 at age 63 of glioblastoma multiforme, shortly after being diagnosed. His family used to own the Cullom Knoll Restaurant in McCullom Lake.
– Lance Kuhns, 52, who was diagnosed in 1993 with oligodendroglioma. He grew up on the lake and now lives in Crystal Lake.
– Julianna Mass, 67, was diagnosed in November with glioblastoma multiforme. She has lived in McCullom Lake for 40 years and raised seven children there.
Previous plaintiffs*
Nichole Baird, McHenry
Franklin Branham (deceased)
Cynthia Depaepe, Muscatine, Iowa
Brian DiBlasi, Cary
Bryan Freund, McCullom Lake
Patrick Kane (deceased)
Scott Milliman, Crystal Lake
Robert Nelson, San Jose, Calif.
John C. Stepp, McHenry
Kurt Weisenberger, Wonder Lake
Judith Weisheit, Ringwood
Sandra Wierschke, McHenry
* Does not include a class-action lawsuit filed by Glenn and Donna Gates on behalf of current and former residents.
Brain cancers in the lawsuits
– Glioblastoma multiforme makes up 30 percent of primary brain tumors. It is the most common and often fatal. Six of the plaintiffs were diagnosed with it; two have died.
– Oligodendroglioma is rarer and makes up about 4 percent of primary brain tumors. It is treatable, and survivability is high. Five of the plaintiffs were diagnosed with it.
– Hemangioblastoma is even more rare, making up 2 percent of primary brain tumors. However, it is benign and does not metastasize. One plaintiff was diagnosed with it.
– Two plaintiffs were diagnosed with pituitary gland tumors; one has died.