Lawsuit alleges cancer exposure at Fresno County Courthouse

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- A caller suit raises questions astir the root of a uncommon crab successful Fresno.

Warren Paboojian is suing Fresno County aft helium says 10 people, including a retired judge, developed humor crab aft moving successful the transgression courthouse betwixt 1966 and today.

"Yeah, I deliberation it's a crab cluster. What we person astatine the courthouse is simply a crab cluster," Paboojian said.

The lawyer says his clients each had regular vulnerability to an underground state pump successful the courthouse parking operation earlier processing cancer.

Action News obtained photos of the pump called the "Courthouse Motor Pool."

County documents uncover it connects to a 10,000-gallon underground state tank.

"It's astatine the B-1 level," Paboojian said. "It's 1 level beneath the main floor."

Paboojian says the pump and vessel person leaked chemicals into the crushed and produced toxic fumes successful the air.

One of the chemicals is benzene, a large constituent of gasoline and a chemic the authorities says is known to origin cancer.

In a connection to Action News, region officials wrote:

"The fueling presumption located successful the store of the Courthouse has been regularly maintained and monitored by the County and by State agencies since its installation."

Officials accidental the astir caller inspection was connected August 8.

The region adds inspections instrumentality spot weekly, monthly, and annually and says each inspections are successful bully lasting and nary items person been noted that request repair.

Paboojian says the region volition not manus implicit immoderate records, truthful Action News interviewed County Supervisor Nathan Magsig.

"I person not seen immoderate grounds linking thing that the region has done to the cancers that person been caused," Magsig said.

He added that the region has yet to person the suit and reiterated region state pumps acquisition regular inspections to support progressive licenses.

"All of the enactment that the region has done, each this monitoring, has ever met with standards, and we inactive person licensing from the authorities to beryllium capable to run these facilities," Magsig said.

Caught successful the mediate of this back-and-forth are the 10 erstwhile courthouse employees with humor cancer.

Paboojian says they are each successful assorted stages of the illness and privation compensation from the county.

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