Oroville, Calif.-A 30-year veteran truck driver awarded $1.4 for permanent injuries from inhaling anhydrous ammonia while unloading the fertilizer at a farm will be back in court Jan. 21 to learn how much punitive damages will be assessed against the company found liable for the incident over three years ago. Last month a Butte County Superior Court jury found that B.C. Leaseco, a Dixon area trucking firm, was responsible because a flapper safety valve was removed from the pumping system, which the plaintiff’s attorney argued was done to speed up the flow of the liquid fertilizer. The jury awarded Raymond Kean, 67, of Oroville, $1 million for pain and suffering and $406,000 as compensation for lost wages and medical expenses. His attorney, Mark Velez of Rocklin, wouldn’t confirm press reports that he is asking the eight-person jury for $4.2 million in damages, which, if awarded, would probably be the largest verdict handled down locally. Velez declined to discuss the particulars of the case until after the punitive decision because of concerns about prejudicing the case. Velez told the press that Kean, who is described as 100 percent disabled and facing a lung transplant, suffered major chemical exposure when anhydrous ammonia liquid fertilizer backed up and sprayed on him while he was pumping from his tanker truck into holding tanks at a Richvale rice farm on April 29, 2005. A farm worker doused him with a hose before paramedics and fire crews arrived on the scene, but not before Kean had inhaled the toxic substance and sustained chemical exposure to his eyes and respiratory system, according to his lawyer. After a three-week trial the jury found B.C. Leaseco 100 percent negligent for removing the safety valve. Button Transportation, which employed Kean, was also found negligent, but was not assessed damages.
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