Arch Wood Protection, Inc. Announces that Federal Court Rejects Class Action Status for CCA-Treated Wood Lawsuit.Business Editors/Legal Writers SMYRNA, Georgia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 28, 2003 The United States District Court United States District Court In the U.S., any of the 94 trial courts of general jurisdiction in the federal judicial system. Each state, as well as the District of Columbia and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, has at least one federal district court. , Southern District of Florida, has denied class action status to a lawsuit challenging the safety of CCA-treated wood and its warnings. In denying the plaintiffs' motion, and after a thorough review of CCA-treated wood products and their markets, the Court held that the plaintiffs' claims failed to satisfy several basic requirements for class certification: "...(T)he class representatives' claims would be atypical of other potential members of the class, that individual issues of fact and law would predominate in this matter, and that class action treatment would not be the superior method of resolving this dispute..." Among other reasons, the Court stated that the establishment of a class is unwarranted given the relatively small number of claims related to CCA-treated wood: "For instance, even in spite of the seventy year history of treated wood's use in this country, there is no track record of cases in which plaintiffs were alleging property damage as a result of treated wood treated wood Toxicology Wood impregnated with preservatives–eg, chromium-copper-arsenate, creosote, inorganic arsenicals, pentachlorophenol, to ↑ its useful life, thwarting insects, fungi, etc; chronic exposure to the fumes of burning wood or skin . And there is no indication that a sea of litigation An action brought in court to enforce a particular right. The act or process of bringing a lawsuit in and of itself; a judicial contest; any dispute. When a person begins a civil lawsuit, the person enters into a process called litigation. over treated wood is imminent." In fact, during the course of oral argument, plaintiffs conceded that there have only been a handful of personal injury cases filed involving these products. In addressing the manageability of a class action, the Court quoted the Fifth Circuit as follows: "(N)ot every tort is asbestos, and not every mass tort A mass tort is a civil action involving numerous plaintiffs against one or a few corporate defendants in state or federal court. As the name implies a mass tort includes many plaintiffs and law firms have used the mass media to reach possible plaintiffs. will result in the same judicial crisis." Headquartered in Smyrna, GA, Arch Wood Protection, Inc. manufactures various preservatives preservatives, n.pl food additives that hinder spoilage by reducing the growth of microorganisms. Include nitrates and nitrites, benzoates and sulfites, and many others. and additives to enhance the properties of wood, and provides engineering, environmental, technical and marketing services to its treaters and other customers. With manufacturing operations Manufacturing operations concern the operation of a facility, as opposed to maintenance, supply and distribution, health, and safety, emergency response, human resources, security, information technology and other infrastructural support organizations. in North America and Europe, joint ventures in South America and Australasia, and laboratories in Georgia, England and New Zealand New Zealand (zē`lənd), island country (2005 est. pop. 4,035,000), 104,454 sq mi (270,534 sq km), in the S Pacific Ocean, over 1,000 mi (1,600 km) SE of Australia. The capital is Wellington; the largest city and leading port is Auckland. , Arch Wood Protection has developed unsurpassed expertise in wood preservation technology. For more information about Arch Wood Protection, go to www.naturalselect.com and www.wolmanizedwood.com. Arch Wood Protection, Inc. is a subsidiary of Arch Chemicals, Inc., a global specialty chemicals company with approximately $1 billion in annual sales. |
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