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August 19, 2008

Bus workers file suit against dieselcompanies

By Matthew Sweeney, amNewYork Staff Writer |msweeney@am-ny.com

August 19, 2008

For 32 years, Connor Hartnett worked in bus depots throughout the city with little or noventilation. Diesel fumes from hundreds of idling buses were so thick he often couldn'tread the identification numbers on the vehicles."There were times you couldn't see the buses," said Hartnett, 73, who retired in 1992 andnow has inoperable lung cancer and a heart condition.Yesterday, Hartnett and 17 others filed suit against diesel engine manufacturers,claiming that exposure to the particulate matter in the emissions caused their severeillnesses. Hartnett's attorneys estimate that he was exposed for 42,960 hours during histime as a bus driver and shifter. Other in the case had more exposure, like mechanicsVincenzo Mancio and Joseph Ganz, who are now deceased from cancer and heartproblems and are represented by family in the law suit.The suit filed yesterday in Manhattan, Brooklyn and the Bronx names 13 companies thatmanufacture diesel engines used by NYC Transit, including General Motors, DetroitDiesel Corporation, and Northrop Grumman Corporation."They are going to have to dosomething to rectify what they havedone to these gentlemen," saidJohn Dearie, co-counsel for the busworkers.Several companies reachedyesterday declined to comment,saying either that they would notspeak on litigation or had not yetseen the suit.Lawyers for the workers said that aWashington, D.C. appeals courtruling made a causal link betweenexposure to diesel fumes andillness. Although medical studieshad linked diesel emissions toillnesses, no legal link had beenmade until that decision, John Durst,co-counsel for the plaintiffs said.The ruling may open a new area ofclaims similar to asbestos andsmoking lawsuits, Durst said.."The repercussions from it will playout over the next decade or two," heaid.The lawsuit seeks damages againstthe companies for negligence,wrongful death, and pain andsuffering.The manufacturers shouldhave known the dangers of theirproducts and taken precautions indesigning them.If the companies had put particulatematter traps on their buses "wewouldn't have this problem," Durstsaid.Over the last decade or so, buscompanies have made buses withlower emissions and the TransitAuthority's old depots -- many ofthem converted trolley barns -- havebeen replaced or upgraded withbetter ventilation. The TransitAuthority, which is not a defendantin the lawsuit, declined to commenton the case.Seven of the retired bus workersgathered to announce the suit attheir lawyers' midtown office. Theydescribed windows that didn't openand garages where buses were keptidling all night in the winter becausethey wouldn't start in cold weather.

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At the end of his shift EmidioDeStefano, 71, drove his bus intothe back entrance of a depot heworked at for 20 years at 126thStreet near the East River. He andthe others then had to walk thelength of the massive structure,some three blocks, to the other side.It was a slowwalk because he oftenhad to squeeze between the busesparked cheek by jowl. "There wasno air whatsoever," he said. He saidthey complained to supervisors butnothing was ever changed.Today he has throat cancer. All thedoctors at the hospital ask him, howmany packs a day do you smoke. "Inever smoked in my life," he said.