(The following story by Max B. Baker appeared on the Fort Worth Star-Telegram website on August 29.)
FORT WORTH, Texas — Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. is fighting allegations that pollution from a tie-making plant it once operated contributed to cancer in its employees, their families and nearby residents.
Linda and Donnie Faust are suing the Fort Worth-based railroad over the operation of a plant in the small town of Somerville, southwest of College Station. The Fausts say the company failed to contain the toxic chemicals used to treat railroad ties, particularly creosote.
“Dirty little secrets: That is what this case is all about,” said Jared Woodfill, an attorney for the Fausts, during opening arguments Tuesday. “And they buried it in a place where they thought no one would care.”
Donnie Faust, 51, has worked at the plant since 1974. He lives near the plant with Linda, 49, who had her stomach removed after being diagnosed with cancer in 1998. Linda Faust contends that she was exposed to cancer-causing chemicals he brought home on his clothing, as well as through emissions from the factory’s smokestacks when it burned hazardous materials for fuel.
Woodfill said at least 200 similar lawsuits involving several hundred people have been filed against BNSF in the past several years.
The railroad’s attorneys deny that the plant caused Faust’s cancer. They say it has been operating legally.
They contend that Faust, a former smoker, had pre-existing conditions that may have contributed to her cancer.
The trial in state District Judge Jeff Walker’s court is expected to last a month.