Tulsa World: Tar Creek residents join lawsuit

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Tar Creek residents join lawsuit
Dozens say they were pressured into accepting buyouts at the Superfund site.

By OMER GILLHAM World Staff Writer & SHEILA STOGSDILL Oklahoman Correspondent
Published: 4/4/2009 2:22 AM
Last Modified: 4/24/2009 6:50 AM

Dozens of Tar Creek residents have joined a civil lawsuit against the chief appraiser and others involved in the federal relocation plan in Tar Creek, alleging that they were pressured into accepting low buyout offers for their properties.

Fifty-six residents and former residents are named as plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed Thursday in Tulsa County District Court.

The residents are seeking damages allegedly caused by a relocation plan announced in May of 2006.

The plaintiffs lived in the Tar Creek Superfund site in Ottawa County and are part of a $60 million federal buyout of lead-polluted homes and businesses.

Meanwhile, a second, similar lawsuit was filed Thursday in Ottawa County District Court in Miami against the Lead-Impacted Communities Relocation Assistance Trust, which is overseeing the voluntary buyout, records show.

The plaintiffs in that lawsuit are Johnny and Patty LaFalier and Missy Beets.

The lawsuit seeks to form two class-action suits.

One class would consist of residents whose property allegedly was undervalued by the trust.

The second would be of residents whose buyout payments were reduced because they received money from their private insurance carrier or from the Federal Emergency Management Authority after a May 10 tornado.

The trust is accused of undervaluing Beets' property through inappropriate appraisals by Cinnabar Service Company and by Van Tuyl and Associates, both of Tulsa.

The lawsuit also accuses

the two companies of violating the state's Open Meeting Act when company officials went into executive session with trust members to discuss appraisals. The lawsuit is seeking to have the minutes and recordings of those meetings made public.

However, the Open Meeting Act allows public bodies to discuss "purchase or appraisal of real property'' during executive sessions.

Cinnabar Service Co. Inc. and Van Tuyl and Associates are also defendants in the lawsuit filed in Tulsa County. The relocation trust hired the companies to oversee the management, assessment and appraisal of Tar Creek homes and businesses qualifying for the federal buyout.

Other defendants in the Tulsa lawsuit are Oklahoma Secretary of the Environment J.D. Strong; Relocation Trust Operations Manager Larry Roberts; State Farm Fire and Casualty Co.; Allstate Insurance Co.; America First Insurance Co.; American Bankers Insurance Co. of Florida; American Modern Home Insurance Co.; National Security Fire and Casualty Co.; Oklahoma Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Co.; and Shelter Mutual Insurance Co.

As part of the federal buyout, Tar Creek residents are being offered a fair-market value for homes and businesses that have been devalued due to their location within the Superfund site.

The Superfund site is on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Superfund list of polluted areas.

The relocation trust has stated that buyout offers are higher on average than a state-sponsored buyout in 2005. For example, the trust has reported that 2005 buyout offers averaged $53,702 compared with $60,500 currently.

Similar to the Ottawa County lawsuit, the Tulsa County lawsuit alleges that the relocation trust has routinely made lowball buyout offers for Tar Creek homes and pressured homeowners into accepting such offers.

Insurance carriers are accused of low-balling the payouts on insurance claims by residents affected by the May tornado that struck the Picher area, destroying dozens of homes.

The lawsuit also alleges that state law governing the buyout process was wrongly amended June 2 in connection with the tornado.

The buyout process was amended so that insurance proceeds for destroyed or damaged homes would be deducted from the buyout offer for a residence qualifying for the buyout.

In addition to unfair buyout offers, the suit alleges that Strong has engaged in undue influence over home appraisals and buyout offers.

Strong said he needed more time to review the complaint before commenting. Roberts, the relocation trust operations manager, was not available for comment.

Omer Gillham 581-8301
omer.gillham@tulsaworld.com By OMER GILLHAM World Staff Writer & SHEILA STOGSDILL Oklahoman Correspondent

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Some reader comments for this story were copied from "Tar Creek residents file civil lawsuit," which was published on 4/3/2009.

	Report Comment my view, Sand Springs (4/3/2009 9:36:22 AM) You've got to kidding, I've been to that area most of those homes weren't worth much. Younger families chose to buy and live there because of home prices.
	Report Comment T.B'Ville, Bartlesville (4/3/2009 9:49:37 AM) There isnt 60 million dollars worth of homes, land, vehicles, contents of homes, nothing in Pitcher. If you didnt have insurance when that tornada blew your stuff away then to bad. We are insurance poor, it is your responsibility, not ours to pick up the peices.
	Report Comment Graychin, Eucha (4/3/2009 9:54:37 AM) What a mess. Let's make sure that we never again allow an industry to rape the environment for the sake of short-term gains for them and a few low-paying jobs for the rest of us. Now - about that chicken poop in our water...
	Report Comment okie ridgerunner, small town (4/3/2009 10:23:26 AM) I have been driving through there once a week for the last 12 years. most of the homes there were worth very little. it looked like a big skidrow.
	Report Comment Zoomin-in, Tea Town (4/3/2009 3:47:42 PM) I suppose they figure they should get money since the beggar-thieves on Wall-street and the big 3 got their billions in corporate welfare.
	Report Comment Eagle 4, Tulsa (4/4/2009 7:40:06 AM) Does Missy Beets have two left feet? More money for a butchered hog? Good luck in bringin' home the bacon!
	Report Comment LEO, (4/4/2009 9:10:57 AM) Just another can of worms. It will be interesting to see who is involved and why. This just is not about Tar Creek, but the many violations of federal laws and superfund sites. Yes, I feel sad for the families and what has happen especially to the children, but when taxpayers are footing the bill for the greed of a few it is time for change. Tar Creek has been around for a long time and when EPA and the President says they have no intention of applying any type of permanent solution to protect the health and safety of families and children concerning hazardous waste sites, this is nothing more then government telling taxpayers and Oklahoma families we are only interested in your money. If a superfund site like Tar Creek was in your backyard or Tulsa or Oklahoma City and you knew it would never be fixed, people would have a different attitude about Superfund Sites.

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