Flaws in Expert Proof Sink Exposure Claims Linked to Hurricane-Battered Alcoa Refinery

A suit by Virgin Islands residents alleging a refinery owned by Alcoa Inc. allowed contaminants to escape during a 1998 hurricane was properly rejected because four experts used flawed methodologies, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled July 10 in an unpublished opinion (Henry v. St. Croix Alumina, LLC, 2014 BL 192118unpublished opinion).

Judge Marjorie O. Rendell upheld summary judgment to the St. Croix Alumina Refinery Plant.

The court said the rejection of plaintiffs’ medical expert Dr. Nacham Brautbar and three scientific experts, Jim Tarr, Clayton Bock and Edward Kleppinger, left the plaintiffs without experts ...