Escamilla et al. v. Asarco

Escamilla is the largest verdict in Colorado in an environmental damage case at the time of verdict. In Escamilla, Kevin Hannon and his co-counsel represented the Denver community of Globeville in a class action suit for contamination of its air and soil by cadmium and arsenic. Several attorney groups had rejected the case before Kevin's involvement. The six week trial resulted in a jury verdict and the court entering judgment against Asarco for $28.1 million. This case was the first jury trial in Colorado to award the cost of cleaning up the contamination as part of the damages. The settlement reached after trial provided for clean up of the Globeville community, and money damages to the residents. 

Orjias et al. v. Louisiana-Pacific

In Orjias, Kevin Hannon and his co-counsel represented families who lived next to a waferboard facility which emitted formaldehyde, MDI and wood particulates. Several attorneys had rejected the suit before Kevin's co-counsel agreed to take the case.  Kevin's clients suffered health and property damages and eventually had to move away from the pollution.  The three week trial resulted in the March, 1992 jury verdict for $2.3 million, including $1.8 million in punitive damages. Evidence from that trial was used as part of the basis for action by the federal government against Louisiana-Pacific, which included the largest fine levied by the U.S.E.P.A. at the time, and criminal charges. The Orjias verdict was upheld in its entirety through the U.S. Supreme Court.

NWIS and NRRI v. Public Service Company of Colorado

This 1998 trial resulted in a $1.8 million jury verdict on behalf of an owner and an operator of industrial property located next to the Leyden Storage facility operated by Public Service Company of Colorado. The award, which included $278,000 in punitive damages, proved a total loss in value of this 70 acre property due to the migration of natural gas from PSC's underground storage facility. The Leyden Storage facility is the only facility for the underground storage of natural gas in the United States made from an abandoned coal mine. When Public Service then sought to take the property away by condemning the property after the jury issued its verdict, Kevin and co-counsel also successfully defeated that action. The Colorado Court of Appeals upheld the verdict in its entirety.

Eagle County School District v. Paramount Communications

In 1996, Kevin served as co-counsel in claims on behalf of the Eagle County School District against Paramount Communications which owned the environmental liabilities at the Eagle Mine in Minturn, Colorado. The School District operated a middle school which was located directly adjacent to mine tailings piles. The case resulted in a payment of $1.5 million and indemnification for CERCLA liabilities to the school district. 

Kramer v. Wyco Pipeline

In 1995, our Firm completed a case representing groundwater contamination from an above-ground storage tank farm operated by a subsidiary of Amoco Oil. The tanks were overfilled on a number of occasions, causing the spillage of jet fuel, kerosene, gasoline and other fuels. Our clients had suffered property and crop damage from the resulting groundwater contamination.  We obtained a $1.1 million payment, a six year clean-up plan which including additional monitoring wells, penalties for non-compliance with the clean-up plan, and other benefits.