Lawsuit revived for Willits whistleblowers

<p>An appeals court has revived a class-action lawsuit filed by Willits residents who claim an industrial plant's pollution severely sickened them.</p><p>The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Thursday that a trial judge was wrong to dismiss the case on grounds that the statute of limitations had expired for some plaintiffs.</p><p>About 100 Willits residents initially filed a lawsuit in 1999 alleging that Remco Hydraulics Inc.'s chemical disposals made them ill.</p><p>Additional lawsuits were filed, and hundreds of other plaintiffs signed on. But hundreds also dropped out, were dismissed or reached settlements with the companies that had purchased Remco. The most recent owner is PepsiAmericas, which inherited millions of dollars in contamination and cleanup costs when it acquired the company.</p><p>Only about 32 plaintiffs remained in two lawsuits by 2008, after a federal judge dismissed 41 plaintiffs from one of the lawsuits because they did not live in Willits prior to 1988. Most of them had not yet been born.</p><p>In 2009, a U.S. District Court judge tossed out the remaining 12 plaintiffs in that case, saying that much of their evidence was speculative, without foundation, hearsay or untimely.</p><p>Neither the plaintiffs' nor defendant's attorneys could be reached Thursday afternoon for comment.</p>