angelburst29 said:
Judge dismisses Salior's Radiation Case
_http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/dec/17/reagan-radiation-lawsuit-dismissed-tomodachi/
WESTERN PACIFIC OCEAN (March 23, 2011) - Sailors assigned to the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) and Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 14 man their brooms during a counter-measure wash down on the flight deck. Crewmembers scrubbed the external surfaces on the flight deck and island superstructure to remove potential radiation contamination. Ronald Reagan is currently operating off the coast of Japan to provide disaster relief and humanitarian assistance as directed in support of Operation Tomodachi. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Nicholas A. Groesch/Released)
A San Diego federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit alleging that U.S. sailors were exposed to dangerous radiation during the humanitarian response to the March 2011 Japanese earthquake and tsunami.
But Judge Janis L. Sammartino left the door open for a follow-on lawsuit, and the attorney representing several sailors from the San Diego-based aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan said he intends to refile.
The judge dismissed the case Nov. 26 on jurisdictional grounds, saying that it was beyond her authority to determine whether the Japanese government had perpetrated a fraud on its American counterpart.
The defendant in the December 2012 case was Tokyo Electric Power Co., operator of Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.
The lawsuit argued that power company officials lied about the amount of leakage from the damaged plant, in concert with the government of Japan. It says the Navy used those reports in its own calculations about the safety of U.S. sailors in the relief effort, called Operation Tomodachi.
The carrier Reagan responded to the disaster and for more than three weeks stayed off the coast, launching aircraft to help Japanese survivors.
Two days after the disaster, the Navy repositioned the Reagan after detecting low levels of contamination in the air and on 17 aircrew members.
Sailors represented in the lawsuit were deckhands who washed down the flight deck, and performed over decontamination tasks on the ship.
Paul Garner, the Encinitas lawyer leading the case, said the sailors’ ailments include rectal bleeding and other gastrointestinal trouble, unremitting headaches, hair loss and fatigue. Some have thyroid and gallbladder cancer. Many are in their 20s.
Garner said he will refile the case without alleging the conspiracy with the Japanese government.
The number of plaintiffs is now at 51 people. Garner said he intends to add at least 20 more when he refiles.
51 U.S. Navy personnel acquire Cancers after helping mitigate Fukushima disaster
_http://intellihub.com/2013/12/16/51-u-s-navy-personnel-acquired-cancers-after-helping-to-mitigate-fukushima-disaster/
The 51 U.S. Navy personnel were some of the first responders off the coast of Japan aboard the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan. The sailors turned back that dreadful day, already in route to Korean waters to provide aid to Japan.
Charles Bonner “says that as a result of this exposure, the 51 sailors have come down with a host of medical problems, “They have testicular cancer, they have thyroid cancers, they have leukemias, they have rectal and gynecological bleeding, a host of problems that they did not have before … people are going blind, pilots who had perfect eyesight but now have tumors on the brain. And it’s only been 3 years since they went in.” Bonner pointed out that these service men and women are young people, ages 21, 22, 23 years old and no one in their family had ever suffered any of these kinds of illnesses before.”, according to the Turner Radio Network.
Although members of the crew knew that this is the type operations they may have signed up for, some blame the Japanese Government for covering up the meltdown which actually took place 5 hours after the earthquake on March 11, 2011. News of the meltdown was reported by Intellihub News early on then later confirmed by Tepco’s own admission and other sources.
U.S. Navy personnel who were exposed to radiation from Japan’s wrecked Fukushima plant during earthquake and tsunami relief efforts in 2011 can sue the power station’s operator in California, a court ruled.
Judge: Sailors Can Sue California Company Over Fukushima Exposure
http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/west/2014/10/30/345455.htm
U.S. District Judge Janis L. Sammartino in San Diego denied the request by Tokyo Electric Power Co. to dismiss the class- action lawsuit based on jurisdictional issues and have it heard in Japan instead.
“Although Japan is an adequate alternative forum, the balance of the private and public interest factors suggest that it would be more convenient for the parties to litigate in a U.S. court,” Sammartino wrote in her Oct. 28 ruling.
The sailors and their families claimed the company known as Tepco, Japan’s biggest power utility, was negligent in the design and operation of the Fukushima plant, according to their amended complaint filed in February. They’re seeking to create a fund exceeding $1 billion to monitor their health and pay for medical expenses, on top of unspecified damages.
Tepco had argued the U.S. military had contributed to the plaintiffs’ harm, limiting the utility’s liability.
Tepco spokeswoman Mayumi Yoshida said she couldn’t immediately comment on the latest ruling.
In Japan, an inquest committee has recommended that local prosecutors indict former Tepco chairman Tsunehisa Katsumata and two executives over negligence claims leading to the disaster. Prosecutors in Tokyo said this month they would decide on charges by Feb. 2.
The record earthquake and tsunami of March 2011 caused the meltdown of three reactors at the Fukushima plant, the worst civilian atomic disaster since Chernobyl in 1986. About 160,000 people were forced to evacuate because of radiation fallout.
The case is Lindsay R. Cooper v Tokyo Electric Power Company Inc., 12-cv-3032. U.S. District Court, Southern District of California.
SAN FRANCISCO — A federal appeals court says members of the U.S. Navy can pursue their lawsuit in a U.S. court alleging radiation exposure from Japan's Fukushima nuclear power plant.
Court: Sailors can sue in US over Japanese nuclear disaster
http://www.fresnobee.com/news/article157684114.html
SAN FRANCISCO — A federal appeals court says members of the U.S. Navy can pursue their lawsuit in a U.S. court alleging radiation exposure from Japan's Fukushima nuclear power plant.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled Thursday that the sailors for now don't have to make their legal claims in Japan.
Their lawsuit accuses Tokyo Electric Power Co. and the Japanese government of conspiring to keep secret the extent of the radiation leak following a 2011 earthquake and tsunami that killed thousands of people.
The plaintiffs arrived off the coast of Fukushima aboard the U.S.S. Ronald Reagan and other vessels to provide humanitarian aid a day after the quake.
They filed their lawsuit in 2012 in federal court in San Diego.
An email to an attorney for Tokyo Electric was not immediately returned.