Lawsuit: Drivers' cancers caused by exhaust fumes at Transit's bus depot on Yukon Avenue

[Via Garibaldi 8]

http://www.silive.com/westshore/index.ssf/2014/09/lawsuit_exhaust_fumes_at_yukon.html#incart_m-rpt-1

Can a mod please post the full article with the photos? I keep getting an image error message... 

[peacemak3r]

"You had an enclosed depot with virtually no ventilation," said John C. Dearie, the plaintiffs' Manhattan-based lawyer.

 

You would think these facilities would have supreme ventilation, right?

[trainfan22]

This will be interesting though, of all the TA employees and warranty people that came though Yukon depot over the years, these are the ONLY two people to get cancer? Look at 9/11 recovery workers you hear stories of them getting sick in the masses, for years now, yet YUK been open since 81 and we are JUST now hearing these kinds of stories?

[Blitz]

http://www.silive.com/westshore/index.ssf/2014/09/lawsuit_exhaust_fumes_at_yukon.html#incart_m-rpt-1

Can a mod please post the full article with the photos? I keep getting an image error message...

I've been told about this issue from some of the older guys at 126th. They told me that you use to no be able to see a couple feet in front of you because of the smoke in the winter. I'm glad that they don't allow it anymore.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

This will be interesting though, of all the TA employees and warranty people that came though Yukon depot over the years, these are the ONLY two people to get cancer? Look at 9/11 recovery workers you hear stories of them getting sick in the masses, for years now, yet YUK been open since 81 and we are JUST now hearing these kinds of stories?

There are many factors and contributors as to why people get cancer, so I think the claims could be quite legitimate.  For all we know other people may have cancer and just haven't thought about what caused it.  Maybe these two were checked out and were given reasons as to what may have caused this.  Either way you can't argue that having to inhale those fumes, etc. daily didn't have ANY effect on them at all.

 

I've been told about this issue from some of the older guys at 126th. They told me that you use to no be able to see a couple feet in front of you because of the smoke in the winter. I'm glad that they don't allow it anymore.

I don't recall when my uncle started, but I was quite young (as was he) when I go with him to depot (as young as 10 - 12).  I wonder if he heard of this as well.  He's actually ready to retire soon, but I remember when he was out of 100th street (the old one) how crappy and disgusting that depot was along with Mother Clara Hale when he did the M102 up to Harlem.  A lot of these older depots need to be torn down and rebuilt from the ground up.  If anything the unions should be fighting to get better facilities for their employees too.  That was one reason the old 100th street was torn down was because of complaints about the high asthma rates in the immediate area and how residents didn't want the depot there anymore, so they built a new one that was supposed to deal with keeping away all of the fumes, etc. that the old one didn't allot for.

 

 

"You had an enclosed depot with virtually no ventilation," said John C. Dearie, the plaintiffs' Manhattan-based lawyer.

 

You would think these facilities would have supreme ventilation, right?

Sadly many of these facilities are really outdated.  Further more a depot like Yukon has been over capacity for years, so imagine all of the buses they crammed in there when the only two depots on the entire island was Castleton Depot and Yukon.

[trife86]

 

There are many factors and contributors as to why people get cancer, so I think the claims could be quite legitimate. For all we know other people may have cancer and just haven't thought about what caused it. Maybe these two were checked out and were given reasons as to what may have caused this. Either way you can't argue that having to inhale those fumes, etc. daily didn't have ANY effect on them at all.

 

I don't recall when my uncle started, but I was quite young (as was he) when I go with him to depot (as young as 10 - 12). I wonder if he heard of this as well. He's actually ready to retire soon, but I remember when he was out of 100th street (the old one) how crappy and disgusting that depot was along with Mother Clara Hale when he did the M102 up to Harlem. A lot of these older depots need to be torn down and rebuilt from the ground up. If anything the unions should be fighting to get better facilities for their employees too. That was one reason the old 100th street was torn down was because of complaints about the high asthma rates in the immediate area and how residents didn't want the depot there anymore, so they built a new one that was supposed to deal with keeping away all of the fumes, etc. that the old one didn't allot for.

 

 

 

Sadly many of these facilities are really outdated. Further more a depot like Yukon has been over capacity for years, so imagine all of the buses they crammed in there when the only two depots on the entire island was Castleton Depot and Yukon.

Indeed they are but as a operator at yukon not.many others know or care for their health as they constantly have the high idle running and as I pass their bus I do not hear the low air alarm so no reason to keep that on... there are times I literally try to hold my breath going through the depot

[QM1to6Ave]

The lawsuit is probably going to be an uphill battle...the building codes at the time Yukon was originally built were not nearly as strong as they are today. Plus, the builder will probably blame the for letting B/O's idle buses inside. They will have to either prove that the lax building codes from that time were violated, or hope for a settlement, and that's on top of having to show that the exhaust was directly related to the cancer

[Via Garibaldi 8]

The lawsuit is probably going to be an uphill battle...the building codes at the time Yukon was originally built were not nearly as strong as they are today. Plus, the builder will probably blame the for letting B/O's idle buses inside. They will have to either prove that the lax building codes from that time were violated, or hope for a settlement, and that's on top of having to show that the exhaust was directly related to the cancer

That's not that impossible to do though. If these two guys don't have a history of cancer in the family, the question then becomes how did they get the form of cancer that they have? Did they smoke? Were they around other things that could've caused it? I would think that in order to bring this lawsuit, they must that they have a strong enough case to win.  I mean think about the amount of exhaust fumes they inhaled and how many years they did that.  Any reasonable person could see how that could lead to cancer.  All they have to do is connect the dots and show what exactly can occur from inhaling those exhaust fumes over years in enclosed spaces.

[QM1to6Ave]

That's not that impossible to do though. If these two guys don't have a history of cancer in the family, the question then becomes how did they get the form of cancer that they have? Did they smoke? Were they around other things that could've caused it? I would think that in order to bring this lawsuit, they must that they have a strong enough case to win.  I mean think about the amount of exhaust fumes they inhaled and how many years they did that.  Any reasonable person could see how that could lead to cancer.  All they have to do is connect the dots and show what exactly can occur from inhaling those exhaust fumes over years in enclosed spaces.

 

You'd think it would be that simple, but when you look at these kinds of lawsuits for cigarettes, asbestos, etc., the defendants usually show that there could be multiple factors that led to the cancer and that there is no single piece of evidence proving that the exhaust causes lung or bladder cancer, for example, We have clear evidence that exhaust makes asthma and breathing conditions worse, but the scientific evidence on the causes of cancer are much, much more difficult to prove.  

[Via Garibaldi 8]

You'd think it would be that simple, but when you look at these kinds of lawsuits for cigarettes, asbestos, etc., the defendants usually show that there could be multiple factors that led to the cancer and that there is no single piece of evidence proving that the exhaust causes lung or bladder cancer, for example, We have clear evidence that exhaust makes asthma and breathing conditions worse, but the scientific evidence on the causes of cancer are much, much more difficult to prove.  

Yeah and that's where the experts will come and show what evidence they have studied over the years to support the lawsuits.  I'm not saying that it will be a slam dunk, but it the lawyers do their homework they should be able to prove their case. 

[QM1to6Ave]

Yeah and that's where the experts will come and show what evidence they have studied over the years to support the lawsuits.  I'm not saying that it will be a slam dunk, but it the lawyers do their homework they should be able to prove their case. 

 

Yup. It'll be an interesting suit to follow, though it'll probably take 10 years to get through the court system

[Via Garibaldi 8]

Yup. It'll be an interesting suit to follow, though it'll probably take 10 years to get through the court system

lol... You're right. It's amazing how backed up the courts are these days.