CLASS ACTION CERTIFIED FOR CHILDREN AND ADULTS WHO PARTICIPATED IN RECREATIONAL ACTIVITIES ON METROFIELD IN JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY

    WOODBRIDGE, N.J., May 20 /PRNewswire/ -- Judge Mark A. Baber of the Superior Court of New Jersey, Law Division, Hudson County, certified a chromium exposure class action on Friday, (May 20, 1994) for all participants of recreational activities at Metrofield on West Side Avenue in Jersey City, New Jersey.  Any individual who played on Metrofield or the adjoining playground for an equivalent of at least ten athletic games (approximately 20 hours) prior to the 1992 clean up is eligible to be included in this class action.
    The class seeks damages in the form of medical monitoring expenses and personal injury damages for exposure of members of the class to chromium waste placed on the field in the late 1940s by Allied-Signal, Inc. and never removed.
    According to attorneys for the class, Allied-Signal, then Mutual Chemical Company of America, produced chromium at a manufacturing plant adjacent to the field. In order to create an athletic playing field for the company softball team, Mutual leveled off the uneven areas of field with chromium waste, a known carcinogen.  Chromium waste, attorneys point out, resembles soil.
    Although Mutual workers who were members of the Mutual softball team complained to the company of chrome sores (ulcerations of the skin caused by chromium), the company took no action to identify the toxicity of the soil, nor to remediate the site.  In fact, due to these sores, the workers stopped playing on the field after only two years.
    Plaintiffs' class was certified since it met the requirements for class certification, which include: numerous claims, common claims, typical claims, and adequacy of representation from its attorneys. Judge Baber also found that common issues predominated over individual issues.
    Alfred M. Anthony, an associate with the law firm of Wilentz, Goldman & Spitzer, drafted the Class Certification motion and argued it on January 14, 1994.  Christopher M. Placitella and Angelo J. Cifaldi are the partners on the case.
    The next step, Mr. Anthony explains, will be to provide notice to all potential class members.  This will involve publication in newspapers, magazines, and by way of poster in a three-mile radius of the Metrofield site and all hospitals in Jersey City.
    Plaintiffs' expert, Dr. Michael Gochfeld of UMDNJ, is of the opinion that any person who participated in recreational activities at Metrofield for more then 20 hours should be medically monitored in order to maintain good health and prevent/control cancer through early detection. He explains that symptoms of chromium poisoning include the telltale chrome sores as well as lung cancer, asthma and other respiratory ailments.  Anyone who believes they are eligible or qualified to join the class should contact Alfred Anthony at 908-855-6097.
    -0-                       5/20/94
    /CONTACT:  Angelo Cifaldi, 908-855-6096, or home, 201-423-5595, or Alfred Anthony, 908-855-6097, or home, 201-227-4519, or 201-227-7924, both of Wilentz, Goldman & Spitzer/ CO:  Allied-Signal Inc. ST:  New Jersey IN:  CHM SU:

WB-CB -- NY086 -- 9131 05/20/94 18:06 EDT