Keller Rohrback Investigates Claims Against Portland Glass Manufacturers For Arsenic and Cadmium Pollution

National environmental litigation firm Keller Rohrback L.L.P. is investigating potential claims on behalf of residents and businesses in Portland affected by high levels of airborne toxins from art glass manufacturers.

In February, Oregon state regulators first disclosed that the air in part of southeast Portland has tested for extremely high levels of arsenic and cadmium, which are used to manufacture colored glass.

According to the Oregon Health Authority, persistent exposure to high concentrations of arsenic can cause skin, lung, or bladder cancer, and the health effects for cadmium exposure include lung cancer and kidney damage.

Additional information is available from the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality and the Oregon Health Authority.

Regulators have identified Bullseye Glass Co. as the source of high levels of arsenic and cadmium in the part of southeast Portland just south of Southeast 22nd Avenue and Powell Boulevard. A second, similar hotspot in northeast Portland has been attributed to a facility owned by Uroboros Glass, though Uroboros has said that it has not used arsenic in its products for over 20 years.

According to media reports, neither company uses “baghouse” pollution control devices to capture emissions from their glass melt furnaces, even though they use those devices in other parts of their operations.

“It’s unconscionable that these companies apparently put Portlanders at unnecessary risk, and that regulators have not done enough to protect the public,” said Daniel Mensher, an attorney at Keller Rohrback and former Clinical Professor and Staff Attorney at Earthrise Law Center, the environmental law clinic at Lewis & Clark Law School in Portland. Joining Mr. Mensher in Keller Rohrback’s investigation is Matthew Preusch, Keller Rohrback attorney and former environmental reporter at The Oregonian in Portland.

Attorneys in Keller Rohrback’s Complex Litigation Group have a long history of successfully representing individuals and class members in a wide range of important environmental litigation. Whether working for victims of oil spills, communities exposed to toxic materials, or people who purchased contaminated or defective products, Keller Rohrback’s team of experienced environmental litigators have helped to protect people and the environment across the country. For example, Keller Rohrback represented fishermen, landowners, and businesses located in Prince William Sound in their action against Exxon to recover damages caused by the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill. A federal jury awarded a $5 billion judgment in favor of Keller Rohrback clients.