Five More TCE Lawsuits Filed
WATER VALLEY — Five additional environmental lawsuits filed April 9 in Yalobusha County Circuit Court have doubled the number of active cases tied to trichloroethylene contamination at the former Holley Automotive plant, bringing the total to 10.
The latest filings add more than 140 plaintiffs and include wrongful death claims on behalf of nine deceased former workers, along with dozens of personal injury claims from former employees alleging health problems stemming from long-term exposure to the industrial solvent.
The five new cases follow five earlier lawsuits filed in late March and early April. Combined, the litigation now includes more than 250 plaintiffs.
As in earlier filings, the lawsuits allege that trichloroethylene, commonly referred to as TCE, was used for decades at the Water Valley facility and caused serious health conditions among workers exposed during their employment. The complaints also claim the contamination spread beyond the plant site through groundwater and vapor intrusion.
Across the new filings, personal injury plaintiffs are described as “victims of trichloroethylene exposure,” with detailed allegations of cancer diagnoses and other significant medical conditions listed for each person.
The lawsuits name a range of corporate, engineering and consulting entities as defendants, reflecting multiple phases of operation and oversight at the facility over several decades.
Detrex Corp. and Italmatch USA Corp. are identified in the complaints as companies tied to chemical use and industrial operations at the plant, including the handling of trichloroethylene.
A separate group of defendants includes engineering and environmental consulting firms — WSP USA Inc., First Environment Inc., AAE Consulting LLC, Dames & Moore Inc. and W.L. Burle Engineers — which are alleged to have been involved at various times in environmental investigation, site assessment and remediation work related to contamination at and around the facility. The lawsuits also name Avant Construction in connection with site work, along with individuals Kevin Moore and Michael Slack.
The complaints allege the defendants failed to properly handle, store and dispose of trichloroethylene, failed to prevent its release into the environment and failed to warn workers of known health risks associated with exposure.
The lawsuits seek compensatory and punitive damages, including recovery for medical expenses, pain and suffering, lost wages, loss of enjoyment of life and wrongful death damages, along with any other relief the court deems appropriate, according to the complaints.
Those wrongful death claims are filed on behalf of Annie Ruth Nicholson, Vickie Johnson Waller, Mary Louise White, Richard Jones, Samuel Pascu, Margaret Hayes, Robert Keglar and Delois Vanlandingham, according to the complaints.
The personal injury plaintiffs, case by case, from the five April 9 lawsuits, are:
CV-2026-33-JM2 — Teresa Eichhorn, Cornelius Wayne Eubanks, David Eubanks, Freddie Thomas Folson, Ken Folson, Shirley Fox, Clara Gerrod, Judy Kay Glick, Rita Hale, Trina Hall, Cary Harwell, Judy Carter Harwell, Levert Hawkins, Patricia Sims Hawkins, Donald Hayes, Charles Henderson, Bobby Earl Hervey, Johnny L. Hervey, Llewellyn Hervey, James Hickman, Carol Hill, Karen Hollister, Vicky Hollister, Rocilla Holmes, Eugene Horton, Lizzie Horton, Bobby Hoskins, Gladys Hoskins, J.B. House, Annie Houston, Alline Hutchins, Henry Lee Jackson, Kenneth James, James Jenkins, Jerome Jenkins, Jerry Jenkins, Sheila Jennings, Deroy Johnson, Henry Johnson, James W. Johnson, Tommie Dee Johnson, Dianne Jones, Mildred Judson, Shirley Faye Judson and Ever Hervey.
CV-2026-34-SM2 — Green Jones Jr., Sandra Jones, Mary Judson, Patricia Carolyn Kachelein, Hilda Kee, John Keel, David Kehoe, Vanessa Kelly, George Willie Kimble, Betty Jean Kirk, Lawrence Leigh, Ruby Diane Lumas, Myron B. Martin, Katherine Matthews, Jesse McCollins, William Mister, Tammy R. Moore, Bruce Morgan, Gertie Morris, Jerry Murphree, Mary Parker, Patricia Harmon Parker, George Peacock, Barbara Ann Person, Mary Phillips, Roy Lee Phillips, Shirley Phillips, Wayne Howard Phillips, Billy Dwight Pilcher, Vira Mae Polk, Joe Pomerlee, Shirley Pomerlee, Mary Lee Potts, Willie Pulley, Earlene Richardson, John Roberson, Anthony Robinson, Mattie E. Robinson, Joyce Rogers, Myra Mae Polk, Hazel Rounds, Walter Rounds, Lib Sanford, Eugene Shaw, Charles Edward Sims, Isaac Smith and Tommie Turner.
CV-2026-35-JM2 — Linda L. Sayles, Anthony Shaw, Cynthia Levette Shegog, Dorothy Smith, Sandy Smith, Vivian Ann Smith, Derrick Stokes, Marsha Elaine Sullivan, Robert Tabor, Lisa Ann Tanner, Janie Tidwell, Cecil Ray Torrance, Dorothy Dale Turner, Joseph Turner, Sheila Ann Turner, Lucille Tyson, Roy Vance, Robert O. Walker, Melvin Walls, Thomas Walton, James Earl Weekley, Barbara White, Fred Earl White, Joann Hardiman White, Arlene Bierski Wilbourn, Diane Walton Williams, Lula Williams, Michael Dwayne Williams, Christine Woodard, Janet Woodard, Susan Worthem, Jimmie Lee Wright, Shirley Caldwell Wright, Frank Matthew Young and Hattie Lee Young.
CV-2026-36-SM2 — Joey Baker, Bessie Melton Allen, Alex Ladell Brown, Rena Faye Brown, Abigail Burford-Brown, Doris Elaine Burrowes, Lee Eddie Caldwell, Brenda K. Campbell, Maxine Carthon, John Crowder, Annette Daniels, Steve Dickey, Robert Doolin, Mary Drakeford, Bertha Dudley, Cortiss Evans, Mae Catherine Foxx, Lloyd Garner, Cavondria Hairston, Clisten Hayes, Margaret Henderson, Mary Ann Hervey, Florine Holmes, David Johnson, Dorothy Johnson, Lurline Johnson, Randle Trent Johnson, Michelle Deon Kincaid, Barbara Kuykendall and Lucy Logan.
CV-2026-37-SM2 — Lula Jenkins Moore, Linda Rose Sayles, Janeth Neely, Mary Nell Norwood, Lottie Pearl Phillips, Vivian Profit, Patrick Allen Rains, Janice Reed, Rosie Lillian Reed, David Rockett, James Sayles, Patsy Lynn Schroyer, Brenda Joy Shaw, Mattie Jackson Sims, Shirley Ann Sims, Carol Smith, Richard Earl Smith, Lori Kay Stewart, William Roy Sullivan, Edmond Taylor, Marilyn Toles, Josephine Torrance, Rosaline M. Torrance, Linda Bland Torrance, Mary Townes, Pamela Tribble, Reamer Love Turner, Dorothy Ray Westmoreland, Debra Branch White, Sherman Lee White, Mack Wilbourn, Linda S. Wilks, Rosemary Willingham, Donald Wren, Janice Gail Wren, Chadwick Heath Wren, Fernicia Roshell Wright and Brenda Burle Smith.
The plaintiffs are represented by attorneys George “Boo” Hollowell and Andrew Tominello of the Hollowell Law Firm in Greenville and Phillip C. Hearn of Hearn Law Firm PLLC in Jackson, according to the complaints.
Attorney Hollowell previously told the Herald the litigation could eventually grow to almost 1,000 plaintiffs.
