LAFAYETTE PARISH — Lawyers for the Salvation Army and several Lafayette companies that filed a lawsuit against Union Pacific Railroad Company have filed an appeal against a recent ruling to have the case heard in an East Baton Rouge court.
It’s the latest development in the case now eight years old.
Bill Goodell, an environmental lawyer representing several of the plaintiffs in the case says it has been a long fight over whether the case should be heard in state or federal courts.
"We are appealing that decision to basically throw out our claims here to say we have to file them in East Baton Rouge Parish...This matter should be heard in Lafayette Parish," said Goodell.
In the original lawsuit filed in 2016, The Salvation Army, Barry J. Sallinger and Cypress Street Properties, LLC represented by Goodell sued Union Pacific Railroad Company, Consolidated Companies. Inc, and Southern Pacific Motor Trucking Company.
The lawsuit claimed that Union Pacific Railroad Company and co-defendants were, “morally responsible for this damage.”
Goodell said, "we should not have crude oil in our groundwater especially when we have a responsible party at the table in court that's going to be subject to a court order to clean up their mess."
A soil and groundwater testing by the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) confirmed the presence of toxic ”hazardous substances…perced atop the Chicot Aquifer,” Lafayette’s main water source.
Mary Jo Allen has been a resident of North Lafayette for thirteen years- although she is not a plaintiff in the original case, she shared her concerns about the environmental impact for the area.
“As for as the water impact, it's fear of the known and not fear of the unknown...It's alarming for me to think this would happen to our society," said Mary Jo.
The appeal process is expected to be complete this year.
