The Lanier Law Firm: LA-Area Residents Granted Class Certification for Environmental Contamination Claims

Carcinogenic toxins allegedly leaked from Northrop Grumman manufacturing facility

A U.S. District Court has granted class certification for thousands of homeowners in the San Fernando Valley neighborhoods of Canoga Park and Winnetka where testing has shown contamination of soil and groundwater with high levels of solvents from a nearby manufacturing facility.

Environmental testing conducted since 2003 has revealed unsafe levels of known carcinogenic substances in areas surrounding a large industrial tract. For several years, the property housed a circuit board manufacturing facility operated by Litton Industries, purchased by Northrop Grumman in 2001.

The original petition for class certification, filed in 2021 on behalf of area residents Jed and Alisa Behar, alleged that over time, dangerous toxins including trichloroethylene, perchloroethylene, vinyl chloride and dioxane migrated from the facility through groundwater onto more than 3,200 surrounding properties, increasing the risks for a range of cancers and birth defects. This groundwater plume is believed to be 2.4 miles long and 1.8 miles wide.

The petition alleged that after purchasing the property, Northrop Grumman failed to properly remediate the damage, failed to prevent it from continuing to flow offsite, and concealed the dangers from nearby residents.

Beginning in the late 1960s, Litton manufactured printed circuit boards and conducted related operations such as copper plating, silk screening, photo printing and chemical stripping at the site, located on Deering Avenue in Canoga Park.

The court certified class cites claims for negligence, trespass and nuisance. Plaintiffs are seeking to recover losses in property value and the cost of mitigation on behalf of class members.

“It is a tragedy that a supposedly responsible company took the easy way out and failed to properly remediate and dispose of materials it knew were dangerous,” says Mark Lanier of The Lanier Law Firm and lead trial attorney for the class. “We are pleased by the court’s order and are eager to move forward and get these individuals the help they need and deserve.”

In issuing the certification order, U.S. District Court Judge Hernán D. Vera established a Mitigation Class and a Property Damage Class, each comprised of property owners within the class action area at the time of certification. Both classes exclude employees of Northrop Grumman as well as anyone who purchased a home with disclosure of contamination from the site affecting their property.

The class is represented by Mark Lanier, Alex Brown, and Ryan Ellis of The Lanier Law Firm; Christopher Nidel, Jonathan Nace, and Will Cowles of Nidel & Nace PLLC; David Page of Environmental Energy & Natural Resources Advocates PLLC; and Gideon Kracov and Jordan Sisson of the Law Office of Gideon Kracov.

The case is Behar et al. v. Northrop Grumman Corporation et al., Case No. 2:21-cv-03946-HDV-SKx, filed in the United States District Court for the Central District of California in Los Angeles.

About the Lanier Law Firm

For more than 30 years, the men and women at The Lanier Law Firm have worked tirelessly, throughout the United States, to find unique and effective solutions for their clients. More than 60 skilled attorneys practice law in a broad array of areas, including business litigation, pharmaceutical litigation, asbestos exposure, oil and gas litigation, personal injury as well as defective and dangerous products, among others. Named an Elite Trial Law Firm by The National Law Journal, The Lanier Law Firm has offices in Houston, New York and Los Angeles. To learn more, visit http://www.lanierlawfirm.com.

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J.D. Cargill 713-659-5200 [e-mail]