$5.1 Million Verdict Awarded to Cow Island Residents
A Vermillion Parish jury awarded $5.1 million to Cow Island residents to help pay for the cleanup of soil and groundwater heavily contaminated with arsenic. The case arose after a Cow Island resident was diagnosed with cancer, making him the second in his rectory to be diagnosed with the deadly disease. A quick test of the water wells in the area found a level of arsenic that grossly exceeded the maximum levels allowed in drinking water. Richard Broussard, an attorney from Broussard, David & Moroux and one of the lead attorneys in this case, stated that the contamination was a result of cattle dipping vats being poured on the ground for decades.