2007S1403-1 04/30/07
 
  By: Shapleigh S.R. No. 944
 
SENATE RESOLUTION
       WHEREAS, Over 1,800 people in Mission, Texas, have filed a
lawsuit because of exposure to pesticides left by the former
Hayes-Sammons pesticide mixing plant that operated in the middle
of their neighborhood from 1945 until 1968; and
       WHEREAS, Of the 1,800 plaintiffs, hundreds are complaining
of health effects known to be associated with long-term exposure
to pesticides, including cancer; these health effects include
bladder cancer, breast cancer, cervical cancer, colon cancer,
esophageal cancer, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease, multiple
myeloma, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, bone cancer, kidney cancer,
liver disease, including liver cancer, lung cancer, pancreatic
cancer, skin cancer, stomach cancer, thyroid cancer, and uterine
cancer; and
       WHEREAS, The pesticides formulated at the plant by
Hayes-Sammons included DDT, Toxaphene, Chlordane, BHC, and
Dieldrin; and
       WHEREAS, DDT, Toxaphene, Chlordane, BHC, and Dieldrin have
been banned in the United States because of their effects on
human health and the environment; and
       WHEREAS, These pesticides are still present today in the
plaintiffs' neighborhood; and
       WHEREAS, In 1980, the United States Environmental
Protection Agency found pesticide contamination in the Mission
neighborhood left from the Hayes-Sammons operations, both on the
plant site and on the plaintiffs' properties; and
       WHEREAS, Hundreds of people live next to or in very close
proximity to the former Hayes-Sammons plant; and
       WHEREAS, The United States Environmental Protection
Agency stated in pleadings filed with the United States district
court in 1980 that the "concentrations [of pesticides] found on
the [Hayes-Sammons site] are so high that spending one day on the
[Hayes-Sammons site] would be more harmful than a year of
agricultural work in the fields which had in the past been
regularly sprayed with these chemicals"; and
       WHEREAS, The United States Environmental Protection
Agency stated in pleadings filed with the United States district
court that "[b]ecause inhaling these chemicals is far more
dangerous than swallowing them, a day on the [Hayes-Sammons site]
would be more injurious than years of drinking water which had
the maximum water quality standards levels of these chemicals";
and
       WHEREAS, The United States Environmental Protection
Agency stated in pleadings filed with the United States district
court in reference to the Hayes-Sammons site that "these
chemicals are all banned, so that in fact a person would be well
advised to avoid them totally"; and
       WHEREAS, The United States Environmental Protection
Agency stated in pleadings filed with the United States district
court that the chemicals found on the Hayes-Sammons site, in
their strongest concentrations, exceeded water quality standards
by millions of times, and never less than by 75,000 times; and
       WHEREAS, The neighborhood and properties are still
contaminated from the pesticides today, nearly 40 years after
Hayes-Sammons stopped its operations; and
       WHEREAS, A United States Environmental Protection Agency
memorandum released in July, 2006, warned that, if the
contaminants are not removed, the release of contaminants from
the former Hayes-Sammons site "may present an imminent and
substantial endangerment to the public health, welfare, or the
environment"; and
       WHEREAS, The affected residents of Mission filed a lawsuit
in 1998 against the manufacturers of the DDT, Toxaphene,
Chlordane, BHC, and Dieldrin claiming that the manufacturers did
not properly warn Hayes-Sammons about the dangers of the
pesticides and the dangers of exposing residents by operating in
the middle of their neighborhood; jury trial was set for June 6,
2005, in Hidalgo County to hear the case of five of the residents
who had all developed non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and had all been
exposed to pesticides while living in close proximity to the
Hayes-Sammons plant; Allied Chemical Corporation, one of the
pesticide manufacturers, appealed the consolidation of the five
cases to the Supreme Court of Texas; the sole issue was whether
the trial court could consolidate the cases of five plaintiffs in
one trial; and
       WHEREAS, The plaintiffs have agreed to proceed with only
one plaintiff at a time and have asked to proceed with the case of
Guadalupe Garza only; Mrs. Garza was diagnosed with
non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and had lived in Mission all of her life;
the appeal before the Supreme Court of Texas was therefore
rendered moot; and
       WHEREAS, The Supreme Court of Texas has not yet made a
decision on whether Mrs. Garza's case can proceed to trial; while
awaiting a decision from the supreme court, the plaintiffs are
prohibited from taking any further action in the case; the
supreme court has stopped any further proceedings in the lawsuit,
not only for Mrs. Garza's case but also for all 1,800 plaintiffs;
and
       WHEREAS, The Supreme Court of Texas has stayed all
proceedings for more than two years, since March 28, 2005; and
       WHEREAS, The 1,800 affected residents are being denied
their day in court and have already been denied the use of the
judicial system for more than two years; at the same time, many of
them are gravely sick and some are dying; the affected residents
are appealing to the Supreme Court of Texas to rule in the
immediate future before many more residents die and are unable to
see their case come to trial; now, therefore, be it
       RESOLVED, That the Senate of the State of Texas, 80th
Legislature, hereby request that the Supreme Court of Texas, in
the interest of justice, rule on the pending mandamus appeal
filed by Allied Chemical Corporation, et al. so that justice may
be done.