Ralph Nader Press Conference |
"Ill
Gotten Gain" - Written to
assist the Victims of
Downey performed
by Wrong Minerva
|
Letters |
Sparse
Media coverage |
Legal
Documents |
OSHA Investigations |
Land
Transactions |
Some
Environmental Tests |
Employee
stories literally from the trenchs in Downey |
Housing
Development replacing the
Studios |
Medical
Claim Form |
One
Medical Report |
Some
media coverage on the
employees by Skye Ashly |
The
Ronnie Cunningham Article |
Some
information on the radiation, mold/fungi, etc. and what medical care is
available |
4,880
Documents directly related to the contamination of this property and
exposure of the public to toxic substances which were obtained by
supoena and are provided for public viewing and regulatory/including
law enforcement agencies immediate use. |
Some
coorespondence from the real estate attorney Davis S. White and the
union attorney Lewis Levy |
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Legal
Documents
List of Legal Events in order of
most recent first with the exception of May 7, 2007 showing background
of illness:
First
filing - CASE NO. : VC 046 716
April
2, 2007 BRYMAN & APELIAN
42 plaintiffs brought suit
May
7, 2007 - Barry Bernson,
et al vs City
of Downey, Downey
Studios LLC - The Lawsuit -
Background on what
happened
and the medical symptoms/complaints.
March 26, 2008
Motion
to Amend complaint to add additional Defendants by Plaintiff Leonard
Martin
February
21, 2008
Letter
from David S. White to Leonard Martin
Feb.
2, 2008
IRG Defendants Notice of Motion
January 31, 2008
VC046716
Motion to Allow Media in the Court Room by Plaintiff Leonard Martin
January
31, 2008
Plaintiffs - pro per
Transcript
of Proceedings
January
31, 1008
Motion of Defendant City of Downey to Compel Responses from Plaintiff
John Izumi to the City's
October
23, 2007
REPORTER'S
TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS
October
23, 2007
Opposition
to DreamWorks Demurrer
October
23, 2007
Opposition
to Boeing Demurrer
October 23, 2007
Opposition
to City of Downey Demurrer
October
23, 2007
Exparte
Ruling
October 23, 2007
Memorandum
of Points and Authorities
October
23, 2007
Reply
Memorandum in Support of Defendant the Boeing
October 23, 2007 -
PLAINTIFF
LEONARD J.
MARTIN’S OPPOSITION TO THE IRG DEFENDANTS’ NOTICE
OF DEMURRER AND
DEMURRER TO PLAINTIFFS’ FIRST AMENDED
COMPLAINT;
MEMORANDUM OF
POINTS AND AUTHORITIES IN SUPPORT THEREOF
October 23, 2007
Hearing on Demurrers To First
Amended Complaint
October 23, 2007
Hearing
on Demurrers
October
9, 2007
Boeing Co. Declaration of Kathryn L. Oehischlager
October 9, 2007
Dreamworks Productions, LLC's Notice
of Demurrer and Demurrer
June
21, 2007
Order Granting Attorney's Motion to be Relieved as
Counsel - Civil
Mark D. Apelian, Esp, Bernson v. City of
Downey, et al.
May 9,
2007
Legal Filings Against the General Services Administration
of the United States
The
following is the revised lawsuit . This provides the
background
for what took place while these people were working at Downey Studios.
Barry
Bernson, et al vs City of Downey, Downey Studios LLC, Industrial Realty
Group, Los Angeles Center Studios, Ezralow Company, Dreamworks
Pictures, Entertainment Partners, national Aeronautics and Space
Administration, Boeing, VC 046716
September 2, 2005
Claim
for Damages to Person and Property in Complaince with California Gov.
Code 911.2
October
9, 2007
Notice of Demurrer and Demurrer
to Plaintiffs' First Amended Complaint
by Defendant City of Downey;
Memorandum of Points and
Authorities in Support Thereof
August 24, 2007
and at:
https://kaiserpapers.com/downey/lawsuits/
august2420072.html
REPORTER'S TRANSCRIPT OF
PROCEEDINGS
June
21, 2007
Order Granting Attorney's Motion to be Relieved as
Counsel - Civil
Mark D. Apelian, Esp, Bernson v. City of
Downey, et al.
https://kaiserpapers.com/downey/injured/
apelian.html
July
2007
Downey Studios Litigation
May 9, 2007
Filing against
the GSA
May 26, 2006
Opposition
to the Demurrer of
DREAMWORKS PRODUCTIONS
April 25, 2007 - History
of the IATSE
lawsuit in which Downey Studios forced
the silence of the
Union that had attempted to provide medical and legal assistance for
it's members. Case No:VC045585 - This case has
since been
sealed by the Superior
Court of Los Angeles County but significant
documents are provided here:
https://kaiserpapers.com/downey/injured/
VC045585.html
May
26, 2006
Motion to Amend Complaint to Add Additional
Defendants (by Plaintiff
Leonard Martin)
October
10, 2005
Medical Lab Reports for Leonard
Martin
September
2, 2005
Claim
for Damages
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Housing
Development replacing the Studio
Current Plans for
turning
Downey Studios into a housing development. Same political
players -
same old over lapping of mutually beneficial financial interests.
One
more quickie zone change and no one will ever know that only a couple
of years ago it was a Superfund Site sold to the City with the
condition that no one would ever put a house on the property.
They
call it Tierra Luna.
January 17, 2008
This
historic site that the government still says is unclean land with a
polluted water table where a lot of became sick is now slated to be
torn down and have homes built
upon it.
mirrored at:
https://kaiserpapers.com/downey/
newhomes.html
November 13, 2007
TIERRA LUNA (DOWNEY STUDIOS)
REIMBURSEMENT AGREEMENT
November
13, 2007
Citizens in City Council Meeting are
concerned
with possible conflict of
interest of Downey Studios Tierra
Luna Development
Tierra Luna - Downey
Studios
City of Downey Warrants
CHRISTOPHER
A. JOSEPH &
ASSOC. DEVELOPMENT CONSULTANT FEES 11,778.13 |
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Some
Environmental Tests
October
22, 2007
WESTERN
ANALYTICAL LABORATORY TEST REPORT -
The
Lead Environmental Report
October
16, 2007
WESTERN ANALYTICAL LABORATORY TEST REPORT -
Asbestos
March 3,
2005
Environmental
Report generated for Dream Works - limited scope
May
27, 2004
Test only for Chromiums in green dirt
excavated when digging out the lake in Building 1 Downey Studios
March
3, 2005 - Environmental Report written for DreamWorks
specific to
discovery only of mold and no other substance by Wayne Hanson
of
The Mintie Corporation - Health Science Association.
Document
1 - https://kaiserpapers.com/downey/injured/
pdfs/report
1-3-1.pdf
Page 2 Laboratory
Report specific only to mold:
https://kaiserpapers.com/downey/injured/pdfs/
report
2-3-1.pdf
Page 3 - Laboratory Report
specific only to mold:
https://kaiserpapers.com/downey/injured/pdfs/report
3-3-2.pdf
March
3, 2005 - Environmental Report written for DreamWorks
specific to
discovery only of mold and no other substance by Wayne Hanson
of
The Mintie Corporation - Health Science Association.
Document
1 - https://kaiserpapers.com/downey/injured/pdfs
/report
1-3-1.pdf
Page 2 Laboratory
Report specific only to mold:
https://kaiserpapers.com/downey/injured/pdfs/report
2-3-1.pdf
Page 3 - Laboratory Report
specific only to mold:
https://kaiserpapers.com/downey/injured/pdfs/report
3-3-2.pdf |
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This
is a very short synopsis to bring everyone up to date and to clarify
what is known to have taken place, and did result in illness to many
people:
We now have first hand reporting prior to 2000.
There
were three separate groups of people employed on the property at
different times that have become ill. Several different movie
productions and film companies were involved.
In or
around September of 2003 something happened on the
property in Building 1 that began causing illness for a great
number of people working at that location.
During
the time period 2004-2005 numerous people, became ill in Building 1
from what originally was
thought to be illness exclusive to mold and mycotoxins. Note:
Mold and mycotoxins are nearly always found at locations of
toxic
contamination. It has been formally established that great
numbers of molds and mycotoxins at the time of testing were found to be
present. It has also been established that several other
highly
toxic materials were also present that in many cases are confirmed to
have been a direct cause of studio worker's illnesses. These
include but are not the only toxic substances, lead, chromiums,
including Hexavalent Chromium, Asbestos, Dioxins, various forms of
solvents/rocket fuels, and leads.
It
appears that one of the reasons that suppression of public information
would be made is one specific condition under the retransfer of the
property: Click on the following link to read
... condition stipulates that IRG must a meet a required studio use period for the next 30 months, guaranteeing the effort to use the land in question for a successful movie studio, and that after 30 months IRG can turn to alternative means of development.
If this information were to become public
knowledge then the Tierra
Luna property development for residental living quarters
could not readily be placed at that location. See:
Current
Plans for
turning
Downey Studios into a housing development. Same political
players -
same old over lapping of mutually beneficial financial interests.
One
more quickie zone change and no one will ever know that only a couple
of years ago it was a Superfund Site sold to the City with the
condition that no one would ever put a house on the property.
They
call it Tierra Luna.
Under the terms of the land transfer a restriction
has been
placed by the City
of Downey , which clearly states that no
day care center, no school for those under 18, no houses, etc.,
may ever be placed on that property...............
California
Labor Code States:
As
to Fraudulent Concealment Per Labor Code section 3602(b)(2):
“Where
the employee's injury is aggravated by the employer's fraudulent
concealment of the existence of the injury and its connection with
the employment, in which case the employer's liability shall be
limited to those damages proximately caused by the aggravation. The
burden of proof respecting apportionment of damages between the
injury and any subsequent aggravation thereof is upon the
employer.”
See the
original letter from the Union and two published articles:
Letter
https://kaiserpapers.com/downey/injured/images/img192.jpg
See Union
Article:
The November 2005 - NEWSREEL PAPER reported the following:
Special
Announcement regarding Downey Studios
As you know, ****** is a
workers' compensation attorney representing some of our members who
were injured working at ****** Studios. In order to pursue your claims
further, he needs
more of
the dust and material some of you collected when working at Downey.
Please contact me and I will arrange to get these materials to him so
that he can
have the contents studied in a laboratory.
As
we have explained at the meetings, each member who files a claim is
sent to a doctor for treatment. John has agreed with the insurance
adjuster to have our
members
examined by an Agreed Medical Examiner. The AME is considered impartial
and his opinion will have a significant effect on all the claims for
the members.
(Additional
Quote from Paramount relevant to the inserted photo on your left: "The
A.E. Schmidt Company has never caused a production delay.")
Note:
The Haz Mat team shown above is reported to have been on the
premises specificaly for the purpose of building the lake at the
Studios.
Mr.
Miller has advised me that the first AME report was received this week
and it held in favor of the member. It said his symptoms were all a
result of the work he did
at
******* Studios, that the air was toxic, mold was present, and the
member needs ongoing medical treatment for his sinus condition,
headaches, and additional
health
problems. In addition to the workers' comp claims, Mr. Miller is filing
civil cases in Superior Court for each injured person who worked at
***** Studios.
If
you have not filed a claim, contact us as soon as possible and we will
get you in contact with an attorney. And remember, if you have any dust
or materials from
the walls, ceiling, ground, yellow asbestos caution tape, and/or
photos, please contact us at your earliest convenience.
http://www.local44.com/content/newsreel/05/NOVEMBER%202005%20NEWSREEL%20for%20web.pdf
The following (in smaller print) is in the above referenced NEWSREEL:
Executive Board Meetings
Highlights - Presentation: Business Agent Report
Downey
Studios: Downey had filed suit against Local 44 because of the articles
on concerns of contaminates at the facility in our Newsreel. It was
pointed out that all articles were reprints of various reports,
including a reprint of the West Coast IA’s letter that certain
contaminates were cleared.
Special
Effects Letter: A letter to International President Short was being
drafted to
respond
to the IA President’s letter referencing the Special Effects conditions
in a Newsreel article
Shortly after the above was published the following took place:
Union 44 was sued by IRG for notifying the
employees
that they could become ill while working on this property and to seek
medical care if they felt the need.
Because of that lawsuit a quick
settlement
was reached between the parties involved stating that that no matter
what the outcome of the environmental report that the Union would say
it was a safe place to work. The Union representative had to
also
retract his statement and an amount of money was agreed upon to be paid
by the union to Downey Studios -
see: https://kaiserpapers.com/downey/injured/downeyvslocal44.html
LOOK
AT THIS NEXT LINK!!!!!!!!
https://kaiserpapers.com/downey/irg.html
History of the lawsuit: https://kaiserpapers.com/downey/injured/VC045585.html
In
2006,
at the then just opened Kaiser Medical Building, adjacent to Building
1, Building 290 and Building 6, and 288, employees from the Kaiser
building began developing
illnesses with the same symptoms as the Theatrical employees.
It
has been reported but not yet confirmed
that more people are still becoming ill. 100% of these people
sound very, very ill, now do have neurological problems linked to their
exposure which has made it sometimes difficult to sort out the facts.
An
attempt was made to notify the people that had become ill while working
at Downey Studios that there is also a group of people from Kaiser ill.
Their Union was contacted via e-mail and phone messages and
the
information regarding the Kaiser patients was provided.
A
few days later, a Lewis Levy contacted me, Vickie Travis, via email.
My opinion at the time was that this was a very rude and
troubling letter, received from an absolute stranger.
The
letter says that I am ordered by him to never, ever, ever contact that
union or it's employees ever, ever, ever again or words to that effect.
At the time of his writing I had very little knowledge of
what
any of this was about. I only knew that people were very sick
and
that a lawsuit of some sort had taken place. I did not know
the
details until much later.
The letter is now online at: https://kaiserpapers.com/downey/injured/letterfromlevy.html
This
web section is an attempt to put in order what did take place and get
all of
these people some help. Because all of these people initially
filed worker's comp claims their initial medical reports indicate that
they all have neurological problems and suffer from fibromyalgia.
Some have been fortunate enough to have finally received more
complete medical treatment. Most have not. Not all
information regarding diagnoses are placed on this page for reasons of
confidentiality, and for purposes of not overstating fact.
In
the
following lawsuit please consider that as these profoundly ill people
have had to navigate
the court system on their own at their own expense and for the most
part without legal
representation, that many have dropped out of the case. They
simply
cannot afford it. They are still ill.
According to IRAD a
subsidiary of International Risk Group -
"IRAD
will indemnify NASA,
the United States General Service Administration (GSA), the City of
Downey, Kaiser Foundation Hospitals, Downey Landing, LLC and other
prospective purchasers for claims and costs incurred or asserted as a
result of the environmental conditions and remediation at the Downey
site. This indemnity includes claims accruing both before and after the
property transfer closing stemming from historical operations,
including claims arising as a result of remediation of the properties.
The indemnity will also encompass new previously unknown conditions and
have a term of ten (10) years.
The agreement is the
first of its kind for NASA. GSA served in the role of broker on behalf
of NASA and the US government."
See:
http://www.irgco.com/pr_nasa_120403.htm
Land
Transactions
September
17, 2001
CALIFORNIA
STATE LANDS COMMISSION; U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, BUREAU OF LAND
MANAGEMENT; U.S. GENERAL
SERVICES ADMINISTRATION; AND CITY OF DOWNEY (PARTIES):
Consider authorization of the execution
of a land exchange agreement and
the approval of the exchange of State school lands for federal surplus
land
pursuant to the provisions of section
707 of the California Desert Protection
Act (PL 103-433), and approval of a proposal to sell, with modification
of
the accompanying rights of surface
entry, and subsequently issue a patent
for such acquired federal surplus land
to the city of Downey, Los Angeles County.(AD 385; W 24480) (A 34,
56; S 17, 27) (Negotiators: M. Wetzel,
J. Martin, J.Frey, L. Danley)
ANNUAL STAFF REPORT ON THE MANAGEMENT
OF STATE SCHOOL LANDS
Fiscal Year 2000-01
CALIFORNIA
Negotiations
are continuing on a sixth CDPA transaction. This transaction will be
structured similarly to the City of Pomona sale referenced above, but
will involve federal surplus land in Downey. The BLM,
General
Services Administration (GSA), the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration (NASA), the City of Downey, and CSLC are the parties
participating in this land transaction.
At this time, prior to the
completion of the Downey land transaction, there are approximately
187,000 acres of school lands remaining within the designated national
parks, monuments, preserves, and wilderness areas available to exchange
with the BLM. |
Media
coverage
Downey
audio report
by Adolfo Guzman – Lopez 89.3 KPCC Radio Reporter And Jerry
Blackburn of NASA - General information on the site.
July 2005
Two
News Article regarding cases.
Union News - West Coast Counsel James
G.Varga and Local 44 Business RepresentativeEd
Brown appeared before the Board......
Blog Article
The following is
some
historical background on the resultant case between Downey Studios,
DreamWorks
and the Union.
" Studios/DreamWorks
is
Being Targeted for a Major Class-Action Suit that
May Cost the Studio Millions and Shorten the Lives of Hundreds of Their
..."
http://www.icommag.com/july-2005/july-west-coast-insiders-hotline.html Formerly
at this link:
http://www.icommag.com/july-2005/july-west-coast-insiders-hotline.html
The above referenced news article was removed under threat of
litigation but is mentioned here for the public's knowledge.
"At
Downey several workers on "The Island" complained of health
problems, allegedly from exposure to mold and other toxic substances.
Downey dismissed the claims as spurious, citing outside tests that gave
the facility a clean bill of health. It sued the workers' union,
alleging that it spread false information. The union has been
negotiating to settle the case."
http://johnnydeppreads.com/ar/t202.htm |
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