Precision Castparts Agrees to $22.5M Class-Action Settlement
It has long been known and well-documented that airports are major polluters. But as a recent Portland, Oregon, legal settlement makes clear, the production of airplane components for the aerospace and defense industry also releases dangerous toxins.
Below is an excerpt from a 3/02/2022 Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) report, Court Approves $22.5 Million Settlement in Precision Castparts Air Pollution Lawsuit.
Precision Castparts Corp. has agreed to pay $22.5 million to settle a class action lawsuit over air pollution coming from its metal parts manufacturing facility in Southeast Portland.
Last week, a Multnomah County Circuit Court judge gave preliminary approval to the settlement, which stems from allegations that the metal casting facility emitted toxic metals and polluted nearby homes.
The settlement includes $7.7 million the company already spent on air pollution controls to reduce the amount of nickel and other pollutants being released from Precision Castparts' operations.
Matthew Preusch, an attorney representing some of the company's neighbors in the class action lawsuit, said it's the largest environmental class action settlement in Oregon history.
"It's going to result in meaningful air quality improvements for all the people in Southeast Portland," Preusch said. "We are proud that after years of hard-fought litigation we have been able to reach a very excellent outcome."
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Nine years ago, University of Massachusetts researchers identified Precision Castparts as the top industrial air polluter in the country. As explained in a 2013 Oregonian article, "Precision Castparts, a Fortune 500 company, makes structural investment castings, forged components and airfoil castings for aircraft engines and industrial gas turbines. Almost every aircraft in the sky flies with parts made by the company, whose annual sales exceed $8 billion."
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