Macon Attorneys File First Wave of Lawsuits Against Georgia Power, Represent 100 Juliette Residents

JULIETTE, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) — Two Macon attorneys filed the first wave, of what they say will be dozens of complaints on behalf of Juliette Residents, against Georgia Power and other operators of Plant Scherer, and the Vulcan Materials Macon Quarry.

Macon attorney Brian Adams, and his partner Jermone Gautreaux are leading a charge with a high-profile New York firm, Napoli Bern Ripka Shkolnik, LLP against Georgia Power and the other operators of Plant Scherer, and Vulcan Materials Macon Quarry

“We represent at this point around 100 residents in the Juliette, Georgia area,” says Adams.

At the Dekalb County Courthouse Thursday morning, the lawyers filed 13 lawsuits on behalf of 23 residents in Juliette which claim the defendants have contaminated the neighborhood.

“The standards that we hold each other to as well as neighborly duties, they apply to large corporations as well, and we believe they have forgotten that,” says Adams.

Adams says his clients and their properties have gone through extensive testing. The results showed toxins like arsenic, lead, chromium, and uranium were present in their water, air, soil, and bodies. Adams says those chemicals came from coal ash at Plant Scherer.

“There is very bad stuff in coal ash. It’s just dumped in a pond that has no lining, and the residents live within 100s of yards of this pond,” says Adams.

For some residents affected, explosions at the Macon Quarry have resulted in deposits of high levels of uranium and radon in the air and run-off water.

“The toxins we are finding can cause damage to the liver, to the kidney, and lung cancer and really to the entire nervous system,” says Adams.

The team wants their clients compensated for the medical bills, property damage, personal injury and the defendants negligent behavior.

“We’re here to give them a voice, and to speak out and say this is unacceptable,” says Adams.

We reached out to both companies and received written statements.

Vulcan Materials says quote “our quarry meets or exceeds all state federal regulations… The lawsuit is without merit.”

Georgia power says, they haven’t seen the lawsuit yet, and Plant Scherer is in compliance with all federal and state standards for air and water.