Henry v. Dow Chemical Company

701 N.W.2d 684 (2005)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

D has a plant on the banks of the Tittabawassee River in Midland, Michigan, for over a century. The plant has produced a host of chemical products. Ps claim that D's operations in Midland have had a deleterious effect on the local environment. In 2000, General Motors Corporation was testing soil samples in an area near the Tittabawassee River and the Saginaw River when it discovered the presence of dioxin, a hazardous chemical believed to cause a variety of health problems such as cancer, liver disease, and birth defects. Investigation indicated that D's Midland plant was the likely source of the dioxin. Ps moved for certification of two classes in the Saginaw Circuit Court. The first class was composed of individuals who owned property in the floodplain of the Tittabawassee River and who alleged that their properties had declined in value because of the dioxin contamination. The second group consisted of individuals who have resided in the Tittabawassee flood plain area at some point since 1984 and who seek a court-supervised program of medical monitoring for the possible negative health effects of dioxin discharged from D's Midland plant. This latter class consists of 173 Ps with possibly 'thousands' of putative members. D moved for summary disposition of Ps' medical monitoring claim. It was denied as well as subsequent motions for reconsideration and a stay of proceedings. The Court of Appeals denied D's motion for peremptory reversal and emergency application for leave to appeal, the defendant sought emergency leave to appeal in this Court. Discovery and other preliminary proceedings on Ps' motion for class certification continued in the Saginaw Circuit Court until, on June 3, 2004. The Michigan Supreme Court stayed the proceedings below and granted D's application for leave to appeal.