TCE Trichloroethylene

During my senior year of high school (2000 - 2001) I attended a Tech School here in Kansas. A few months in I became ill and ended up in the ER. I went to about 3 or 4 doctors trying to figue out what was wrong. In the end I has "asthma". I was on daily meds and a fast acting which I used a lot. I still ramained sick. I would go to school only to be home sick fr a few days (until I felt better) and once I returned I became sick again.

I continued going to school there for the year following (2001-2002) and remained sick like I had been the year before. I quit for awhile to work full time and managed to stay healthy. I returned to finish my degree the following year (2002-2003) and became sick again. This time I was kicked out of school due to poor attendence.

I have since started a new college (started Fall 2003) and haven't needed my daily meds or any of my inhalers. Then in Sept. 2005 our local paper published an article about the TCE contamination in the area in which my old Tech school is located. The drinking water is 25 times the levels allowed and some areas 1000 times. TCE is just one of 30 toxins found in this area. The school had to get a permit because of the water from the basement sump pumps were so polluted.

The school did not disclose this information to any of the students attending this school. The school has also known of this for over 8 years.

Now I am stuck with Student loans from going there in which I was unable to get my degree because of becoming sick. I also had many doctor and ER bills because of being sick.

What I want to know is there anything I can do about this? If so what can be done. I had tried talking to the office about finishing offcampus, but they refused to allow me due to we have to be in class 8 hours a day.

Thanks in Advance.

I’m not a lawyer, but I am an environmental engineer who works with TCE contamination.

First of all how were you exposed to the TCE? Did you drink contaminated water? If so the EPA drinking water standard is based on long term chronic exposure and is very conservative (a lot lower that it probably has to be to protect human health). It is also based on a one in a million risk of adverse effects. So you would probably have to drink a whole lot of the water at concentrations well above the EPA standard to have much risk of a problem. Another possible exposure route is inhalation; it’s possible that TCE vapor from the groundwater got into the school’s air. You’d have to know what concentrations you inhaled and for how long to know much about this. Again most indoor air standards are based on long term exposure.

Then you will probably have to know who put the TCE there, again I am no lawyer but I have seen a lot of litigation from this and people always seem to sue the polluter not usually the innocent landowner (which your school maybe). I am not sure what the school’s disclosure obligations were, I always advise my clients to stay on the safe side and advice people; but I don’t know the legal requirements.

Finally you need to know that your health problems are actually related to any exposure you had. Often not an easy connection to make.

I have seen individuals sue polluters and come out ahead, but it is hard. When it happens it seems to me that the individuals have very good legal representation and have invested a lot of money in experts to make their case. Usually the attorneys involved are representing a group of plaintiffs not just one; it seems that makes the investment in time and experts more worthwhile. In every case I’ve worked on but one the plaintiff’s attorneys were working on contingency. All of these cases took years to resolve. Go rent A Civil Action starring John Travolta it will give you some idea of what you can be up agaist.

Good luck.