{"id":8464,"date":"2021-06-24T12:00:42","date_gmt":"2021-06-24T16:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost:10028\/uncategorized\/what-caused-the-lead-poisoning-crisis-at-tampas-gopher-smelting-plant\/"},"modified":"2022-08-18T21:16:07","modified_gmt":"2022-08-19T01:16:07","slug":"what-caused-the-lead-poisoning-crisis-at-tampas-gopher-smelting-plant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/napolilaw.lemonadestand.org\/en\/article\/what-caused-the-lead-poisoning-crisis-at-tampas-gopher-smelting-plant\/","title":{"rendered":"Causes of Lead Poisoning Crisis at Gopher Smelting Plant"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For years, Tampa\u2019s lead-smelting plant workers have cried foul at the plant\u2019s unsafe working environment that puts all its workers at risk. Lead poisoning is the primary concern for hundreds of workers exposed to this toxin at dangerous levels.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Minnesota-based company Gopher Resource gained the smelting plant in 2006 and immediately made plans to transform the once open-air plant into a state-of-the-art enclosed smelting factory. This plan was the promise; however, just months into the operation, the ventilation system failed and has since been in a state of disrepair.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Dangerous Conditions at the Gopher Smelting Plant<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tampa\u2019s <\/span><a href=\"\/article\/health-problems-at-tampas-gopher-resources-lead-smelter\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gopher Resources smelting plant<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> smelts around 50,000 batteries a day. This production rate means that the furnaces are always running, and workers are always subject to high temperatures and poor ventilation. At one point, they have reported that workers have passed out while on the job after ingesting lead fumes and dust that their company-issued respirators can no longer filter.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">During one inspection, investigators found that lead levels in the environment surpassed the federal limit 400 times over. Tampa has recorded around <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/projects.tampabay.com\/projects\/2021\/investigations\/lead-factory\/gopher-workers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2,400 cases of lead poisoning since 2010.<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Effects of Lead Exposure<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Some <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/niosh\/topics\/lead\/health.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">long-term effects of exposure to lead<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> include:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">High blood pressure<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Cardiac problems<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Kidney disease<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Infertility<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Neurological damage<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Chronic anemia<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The effects of lead poisoning may go unnoticed at first as they build up over time, and severe cases can even result in death.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Failure to Address Safety Issues<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.osha.gov\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">OSHA<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">) is the agency tasked to perform regular checks on the plant to ensure that its operating standards are up to par. However, investigators found out that OSHA has not visited the plant since 2016. Workers claim that even when OSHA saw them in past years, OSHA planned the visits, and the company arranged to improve plant conditions in time for the inspection.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, these improvements were frequently short-lived. Inspectors who visited the plant often missed or turned a blind eye to the hazardous working conditions in the Gopher smelting plant. The plant faces a slew of lawsuits, including <\/span><a href=\"\/practice-areas\/environmental-litigation\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">environmental litigation<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> suits and <\/span><a href=\"\/practice-areas\/personal-injury\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">personal injury lawsuits<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> from workers claiming damages caused by the unsafe working conditions.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Dangers of Unsafe Lead Smelting<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Gopher smelting plant is one out of only ten plants in the country. Lead smelting is dangerous because it puts the workers at risk; it also compromises the health of others, including the workers\u2019 family members. Investigating the issue has revealed that some family members indirectly suffered lead poisoning due to ingesting the lead dust particles that workers unknowingly took home with them.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lead enters the environment through the ground, water, and air, exposing all those in the vicinity to the harmful toxin. This risk is why companies must be vigilant in ensuring that their plant strictly adheres to regulatory standards.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The company has a legal obligation to ensure worker safety while at the plant. However, because of lapses in OSHA regulatory checks, they have not held this obligation in high regard. The plant also has a legal responsibility to the people living near the facility.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Napoli Shkolnik works with Ben Crump to Ensure Safety and Justice<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Napoli Shkolnik\u2019s <\/span><a href=\"\/practice-areas\/personal-injury\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">personal injury attorneys<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> are hard at work fighting the injustices and injury caused by these unsafe conditions.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">On June 2, we filed a complaint against the plant, along with nationally recognized civil rights and personal injury attorney Ben Crump and co-counsel. This complaint comes on behalf of a former Gopher worker and his family and was filed at the George E. Edgecomb Courthouse in Tampa, FL.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-13004\" src=\"https:\/\/www.napolilaw.lemonadestand.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Gopher_court-25-scaled-1.jpeg\" alt=\"family of worker affected by lead poisoning from Tampa's Gopher smelting plant\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1067\" \/>This is just the beginning of the process to solve the dangerous problems presented by the Gopher plant and get victims restitution for the harm inflicted.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Plant practices have put all at high risk for lead exposure, even those indirectly affiliated, and this precedent may call for environmental litigation. Those who have been affected by the unsafe practices of Gopher Resource can file a lawsuit against the company.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you or your family has been affected by lead poisoning from the Gopher Resource smelting plant, <\/span><a href=\"\/contact-us\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">contact us today<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for a free consultation with an experienced attorney.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For years, Tampa\u2019s lead-smelting plant workers have cried foul at the plant\u2019s unsafe working environment that puts all its workers at risk. Lead poisoning is the primary concern for hundreds&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":8467,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[775],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8464","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-personal-injury"],"acf":[],"page_builder_type":"gutenberg","gutenberg_data":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/napolilaw.lemonadestand.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8464","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/napolilaw.lemonadestand.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/napolilaw.lemonadestand.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/napolilaw.lemonadestand.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/napolilaw.lemonadestand.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8464"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/napolilaw.lemonadestand.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8464\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/napolilaw.lemonadestand.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8467"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/napolilaw.lemonadestand.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8464"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/napolilaw.lemonadestand.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8464"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/napolilaw.lemonadestand.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8464"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}