The Walt Disney Co., one of L.A.’s biggest and most revered firms, is under attack in a half-dozen lawsuits claiming its toxins have seeped into a neighborhood park.
The issue has overtones of the movie “Erin Brockovich.” The chemical in question is the same as the subject of the movie, and one of the lawyers suing Disney worked alongside Brockovich on the famous case.
The barrage of lawsuits alleges that contaminated air-conditioning water is seeping into a Burbank neighborhood next to the sprawling studio site that produced such animated classics as “Bambi.”
It’s a potential PR nightmare, but the company said it’s done nothing wrong. The state’s Department of Toxic Substances Control said chemical levels at the site aren’t above state or federal safety thresholds. An attorney not involved in the case believes that the Mouse House is being targeted for the usual reason big companies are often sued: because that’s where the cheese is.
A Jan. 8 state lawsuit against Disney is the latest in the water contamination allegations, which began in 2005 when residents living near the studio contacted Burbank officials with suspicions about the presence of chromium 6, a chemical made famous in the movie “Erin Brockovich.” Chromium 6 was used in the past to prevent corrosion in cooling systems and is a known carcinogen.
A Disney spokesman denied any wrongdoing and said the company has never used chromium 6 in its cooling system.
“We’ve never had any chromium at our lot, and we’ve stated that from the very beginning,” the spokesman said. “The allegations of wrongdoing are completely baseless.”
Disney has lawyered up for the fight. The company tapped behemoth downtown L.A. firm Latham & Watkins LLP and well-known environmental litigator Gene Lucero.
Disney is going up against a heavy hitter in the L.A. plaintiff’s bar, Tom Girardi, who was one of the lead attorneys in the chromium 6 litigation against Pacific Gas & Electric Co. in the Brockovich case.
The movie told the story of the title character, a paralegal, and her work on behalf of victims of contaminated drinking water. Brockovich now works with Girardi.
Girardi’s downtown L.A. firm, Girardi & Keese LLP, teamed up with Sacramento plaintiff’s firm Kershaw Cutter & Ratinoff LLP to file the most recent state court suit against Disney. Meanwhile, Kershaw Cutter is handling all of the chromium litigation against the company, and Girardi & Keese is involved in two of the suits.
Kevin Mayer, a Westwood environmental attorney who is not involved in the case but represents companies in similar cases, said the litigation against Disney is stacking up because big companies are a prime target for such toxic tort suits, which can result in hefty settlements for plaintiffs and payouts for their attorneys.
“There is no question that the plaintiffs are going after a deep pocket,” said Mayer, who reviewed documents from the state and federal suits at the Business Journal’s request. “If the litigation ever gets in front of a jury, it will be more driven by sympathy and emotion than by objective and credible science. That’s always the tension that exists in these cases.”
Disney is the second largest public company based in Los Angeles County, with about 150,000 employees worldwide and a market cap of more than $58 billion. The company’s Burbank studio is famous for production of animation classics from “Cinderella” to contemporary hits such as “The Little Mermaid,” “Aladdin” and “The Princess and the Frog.”
Toxic tests
Among the many lawsuits stacking up in the case is a federal complaint brought in 2009 by Kershaw Cutter in association with Girardi & Keese. An L.A. federal judge in October denied Disney’s request to throw out that suit; the case is now entering the discovery phase.
Plaintiff’s attorneys did not return requests seeking comment.
The suits allege that Disney has been dumping water contaminated with hexavalent chromium, also known as chromium 6, into residential streets next to its Burbank studios for decades.
The Jan. 8 suit – filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on behalf of three residents who live near Disney’s facility, and the latest in a handful of the suits – claims that the company has been releasing air-conditioning water polluted with chromium 6 since at least 1957. Such use was banned in 1990 by the Toxic Substances Control Act.
Disney has, according to court documents, “continued to maintain the nuisance and continue the acts complained of” by flushing the contaminated water through three wastewater discharge pipes, which spill it into the nearby residential streets and storm drains. The water then allegedly runs into an area locally known as Pollywog Park, an 11-acre parcel southeast of Disney’s facility.
In rejecting the allegations of contamination, the Disney spokesman cited a 2006 report by the state’s Department of Toxic and Substance Control that showed chromium 6 in soil samples from nearby Pollywog Park were below “levels of concerns,” and below thresholds set by the California Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The department performed testing on the Pollywog area after residents who often walk, jog and ride horses on the site contacted Burbank with their concerns about the possible presence of chromium 6 in the soil. The park is owned by the city of Los Angeles and is bordered by the Ventura (134) Freeway, Disney’s facilities and single-family homes.
According to the federal suit, the plaintiffs commissioned tests of sludge found near the three wastewater discharge pipes that drain to a street. The tests allegedly showed that concentrations of chromium 6 exceeded California’s state drinking water standards. Disney responded that the state standards are more stringent than federal standards.
The federal suit claims that as a result of the alleged contamination, some of the residents living near Disney’s Burbank facility and Pollywog Park have suffered health effects, including cancer, autoimmune disease, skin lesions and respiratory ailments. However, plaintiffs have not alleged a higher incident of cancer in the area.
Even though Pollywog Park is not in their jurisdiction, Burbank officials are tracking the matter because Disney and the nearby streets are within Burbank’s borders and the residents there are concerned. But Burbank officials have found no cause for action, or even alarm.
“From what we can understand, the levels are not something that currently leads to further investigation,” said Joy Forbes, Burbank’s deputy city manager. “But we regularly monitor our own groundwater. Do we want to see where toxins may be coming from? Absolutely.”
Mayer said Disney will want to do its own testing of the allegedly contaminated areas, including Pollywog Park and the nearby homes. The company needs to get as much information as it can in order to defend itself.
“Anytime you accuse a major corporation of not meeting its federal or state environmental responsibilities, and of contaminating water or soil and thereby damaging people’s property and health, these are obviously very serious allegations,” he said.
