CASE UPDATE
Hagens Berman's motion for class certification is pending before the court.
Hagens Berman has filed a class-action lawsuit against Louisville Gas and Electric Company, a regulated utility and wholly owned subsidiary of PPL Corporation, alleging it has illegally dumped waste from a coal-fired power plant onto neighboring property and homes.
According to the complaint, Louisville Gas and Electric Company’s Cane Run Power Plant is fueled by the burning of coal, which also produces coal combustion byproducts—primarily fly ash and bottom ash—that contain significant quantities of toxic materials, including arsenic, chromium and lead.
Cane Run is located just east of the Ohio River, near several Louisville neighborhoods that are home to thousands of Kentucky residents, attorneys claim.
The lawsuit alleges that from at least December 2008 and principally through mid-2015, the Cane Run Power Plant spewed coal dust, ash and related pollutants onto neighboring residences in the ordinary operation of the power plant, and it also received numerous Notices of Violation from the Louisville Metro Air Pollution Control District for additional negligent emissions that were not allowed by permit and also contributed to the contamination of neighboring residences.
According to Hagens Berman, the unsightly dust spewed by Cane Run contains known carcinogens and poses significant potential health hazards to area residents.
Hagens Berman alleges that the damage Louisville Gas and Electric Company’s emissions caused to homeowner’s homes violates Kentucky trespass and nuisance laws. The firm also alleges that the company violated the federal Clean Air Act when it operated Cane Run for a period of several years under an expired permit.
The lawsuit is brought on behalf of area homeowners and seeks monetary and statutory damages, as well as injunctive relief that orders Louisville Gas and Electric Company to cease activities that allow coal combustion byproducts to escape from the Cane Run site. The litigation is currently in the discovery, or evidence-gathering, stage.
CASE TIMELINE
Hagens Berman's motion for class certification is pending before the court.
In an opinion published today, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of thousands of Kentucky residents and upheld a trial court’s decision denying LGE’s motion to dismiss the suit.
