Alleged health risks spark class-action lawsuit against Milwaukee developer

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Attorneys on Wednesday filed a class-action lawsuit against the developer of the Community Within the Corridor (CWC) redevelopment on behalf of a resident who said she faced illness after evacuating from the Milwaukee redevelopment in March.

In March, around 150 people had to evacuate from the affordable housing redevelopment project near North 32nd and West Center streets under a Milwaukee Health Department order. The city health department issued the order shortly after the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) found levels of trichloroethylene (TCE) above acceptable levels for apartment residents, specifically for women of childbearing age.

The lawsuit seeks to have the Community Within the Corridor Limited Partnership refund residents for rents paid and disperse revenues and tax credits it obtained, according to the complaint.

Attorneys Michael Cerjak, James Barton and Joshua Greenberg argued their client, Tiffany Bowen, a former resident who had to evacuate from CWC and faced illness after TCE exposure, would never have entered into a lease agreement if she knew about the alleged health risks, according to a complaint.

“Had (Bowen) known about this serious health and safety threat to both her and her son, she would have never entered into a rental agreement to lease an apartment at the Community,” according to the complaint.

The developers offered every resident who was displaced $5,000 to cover moving and living costs, but only if they signed a form releasing claims against CWC and its affiliates, Barton Cerjak S.C. attorney Michael Cerjak told The Daily Reporter. Signing this would deprive residents of consumer protection claims, according to the complaint.

“All these folks were living with the expectation based on the representations that were being made from CWC that they could get back into their apartments, that the environmental contamination issues were going to be remediated and they could get back into their places in a fairly short time period,” Cerjak added.

The release also barred injury claims residents might develop in the future after being exposed to TCE, the lawsuit alleged.

The developer had allegedly misled the DNR and allowed residents to occupy the building without telling the agency, as shown by publicly available records, according to the complaint. Owners of the building allegedly misrepresented the health and safety risk inside to local housing authorities when they obtained their occupancy permits, the complaint added.

Cerjak told The Daily Reporter he was confident in his lawsuit.

“These folks didn’t do anything wrong. They were placed in a bad situation and there’s no evidence any of them had any knowledge of the circumstances here,” he added.

The Daily Reporter reached out to Scott Crawford Inc., the developer of CWC, for comment.

The people who were evacuated from the Community Within the Corridor redevelopment were still living in hotels, according to multiple news reports. In late May, CWC’s property manager extended an agreement with one of the hotels where residents were staying, TMJ4 reported. When reporters reached out to some residents with questions about how the evacuation affected their lives, some residents said they didn’t have words for it.

Under a current DNR order, Scott Crawford Inc. and an engineering consultant are required to make weekly reports on its remediation efforts and testing inside the east block of the former Briggs and Stratton complex.

“Overall, there was a significant decline in the indoor air concentrations in all the residential and utility units” on the first floor of several buildings, according to the developer’s report. Engineers credited a new blower fan in one of the buildings for the contaminant decline.

According to a letter from Greenfire Management Services, who served as general contractor for CWC, the limits for TCE exposure for construction laborers working eight-hour workdays is different than DNR standards for residents living full time inside the redevelopment. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s guidelines for TCE in the air is 100 parts per million in an eight-hour workday.

“It is our understanding the vapors originated from soil and groundwater contamination caused by an industrial degreaser used decades ago that contained TCE, a chlorinated solvent. The site had gone through substantial remediation over many years prior to your work on the project. But as with many sites, there can be vapors from historic contamination present for decades or more,” Greenfire officials said.

Vapor level standards differ for construction employees and those living inside the apartments, especially infants, children and the elderly, Greenfire officials noted. “Therefore, the environmental law standards enforced by DNR are set much lower than OSHA standards – in fact over 5,000 times lower,” officials added.

Greenfire was given environmental investigation reports before breaking ground on the Community Within the Corridor site, CWC officials said. Greenfire directly contracted subcontractors and was responsible for overseeing their work on site, officials added.