Sludge Watch ==> Pennocks in Supreme Court - Donate - Wrongful Death from Sludge

[maureen.reilly at sympatico.ca]

Russell and Antoinette Pennock
304 Bunker Hill Road
Robesonia, Pennsylvania 19551
russandtonip at aol.com
(610) 589-5152


June 8, 2006


Dear Friends,

    As you may know, on Thursday, April 20, 2006, the Pennsylvania Supreme 
Court issued its decision refusing to hear our wrongful death lawsuit which 
was filed several years ago seeking some justice from the death of our son, 
Danny, from land applied sewage sludge. The case is known as Pennock v. 
Lenzi and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, et al. , 
1788 CD 2004 (filed February 21, 2003).
    Thus far, two lower courts – while expressing some sympathy for our 
plight – have dismissed our lawsuit on statutes of limitations grounds, 
using case law developed by the asbestos corporations decades ago to keep 
people like us remediless in the courts. In essence, they’ve declared that 
we are barred from bringing our suit because we should have known that 
sludge killed our son after his death.
    We have decided to not allow the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to have the 
final word on Danny’s death. Accordingly, we have decided to file an appeal 
to the United States Supreme Court, seeking a ruling that would overturn the 
Pennsylvania Supreme Court and lower courts in this State that have 
protected the sludge industry from our lawsuit.
    As we’ve learned, proceeding in the United States Supreme Court is 
fairly expensive. Between the printing and photocopying bill and the legal 
costs to process our “petition for writ of certiorari” to the Court, we 
anticipate spending close to $4,000 just to ask the Court to take this case.
    We’ve been lucky in that the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund 
has provided legal counsel for us through the appellate courts for a 
fraction of what it would have otherwise cost to appeal these decisions. 
They have also agreed to prepare the request to the Supreme Court at a 
greatly reduced rate, as these costs usually run three to four times what we 
expect to incur.
    Some of you have stepped forward in the past to support our quest for 
justice. We thank-you for that support, which has allowed us to carry the 
fight this far.
    Through this letter, we’re asking for contributions once again, to allow 
us to carry this the final couple of steps. Any help that you can give us 
would be much appreciated. Instructions on giving a donation are listed 
below.


Sincerely,

    Russell and Antoinette Pennock
    Pennock v. Lenzi and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental 
Protection, et al.



Donations should be made payable to “CELDF” and sent to: 675 Mower Road, 
Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. For checks, the memorandum line should read 
“Pennock Litigation.”