Hyde County resident sues PCS

January 6, 2009 by pamliconews

Claims $500 million for polluted aquifer

JEFF AYDELETTE
PAMLICO NEWS STAFF

A retired Hyde County engineer, who runs a nonprofit focused on water quality and its effects on human health, has sued PCS Phosphate in Aurora, claiming damages of $500 million.
Glenn I. Hockney, 81, acting as his own attorney, personally filed the five-page complaint Dec. 29 in Greenville, the home of a federal civil court for the Eastern District of North Carolina.

The public affairs department of the sprawling mine, located in Beaufort County near the Pamlico River, declined all comment for this news report.

“We cannot comment because we have not yet been served with the lawsuit,” said Michelle Vaught, spokesperson for the company.

The civil action, titled “Complaint for Taking of Public Trust Waters, Land, and Natural Resources of Hyde County Citizens without Compensation and Damages Claimed,” alleges PCS has damaged the vast underground river known as the Castle Hayne Aquifer, tapped by many North Carolinians and various towns for drinking water.

As the seagull flies, Hockney’s home is approximately 40 miles east of the PCS mine, although the Hyde County border is much closer to the actual site.

Reached by telephone over the weekend, Hockney was adamant that the huge open pit phosphate mine is responsible for ‘subsidence’ -- a phenomenon in which too much ground water is pumped, upsetting a natural balance.

The lawsuit claims half a billion dollars in damages on behalf of Hyde County residents, contending that “all fresh water reserves” are being converted to “saline status.”
“They (PCS) are misleading the public every way they can,” he said. “I intend to pursue this as a class action. We must have 50 people to proceed.”

Hockney leads Deep Beneath the Surface, a nonprofit that examines health problems attributable to drinking water. His lawsuit refers to a litany of chemicals, which he believes now contaminate the Castle Hayne Aquifer. In the complaint, Hockney also blames “State of North Carolina Environmental Departments” for a failure “to protect Hyde County People.” He asks for an immediate court order to stop all PCS pumping from the aquifer, an amount Hockney contends averages 78 million gallons per day.

A sidebar to this controversy is that Hockney has filed paperwork necessary to qualify for so-called ‘pauper status.” If granted by the U.S. District Court, Hockney may pursue his civil claims without the normal payment of filing fees and court costs. A document submitted as part of that request notes the retired engineer had an average checking account balance of $251 over the past six months.

Another bizarre wrinkle came Monday morning when insiders reported Hockney and an associate visited the PCS facility for a high-level meeting, attended by one or more company officials, and a representative of the state’s Division of Water Quality regional office located in nearby Washington.

The legal filing comes at an inopportune time for PCS. The company is rumored to be close to securing a number of state and federal permits, required for the mine to continue its operations. PCS is the area’s largest private employer, with approximately 1,100 hourly and salaried workers.

To see a copy of Hockney’s civil suit, Click Here.

Permalink