ABC Textiles, Inc. has a textile production facility located in Palm City, FL. It lies along a river that is used for drinking water for the surrounding town and is therefore tested regularly for chemical contaminants according to EPA standards. There is also a recreational beachfront with swimming and boating located ½ mile downstream of the plant. Over the last ten years, the incidence of a skin reaction called allergic dermatitis has increased dramatically for swimmers at the recreational beachfront. Due to public concern, the local water utility began checking for elevated levels of several pollutants that cause skin reactions. Over
ABC Textiles, Inc. has a textile production facility located in Palm City, FL. It lies along a river that is used for drinking water for the surrounding town and is therefore tested regularly for chemical contaminants according to EPA standards. There is also a recreational beachfront with swimming and boating located ½ mile downstream of the plant. Over the last ten years, the incidence of a skin reaction called allergic dermatitis has increased dramatically for swimmers at the recreational beachfront.
Due to public concern, the local water utility began checking for elevated levels of several pollutants that cause skin reactions. Over the course of a year, they collected 45 water samples from a location adjacent to the output of the industrial plant. These samples were tested and elevated levels of chromium were identified. The EPA’s Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) for chromium is 0.1 mg/L. With the knowledge that chromium pollution can result from fabric dyeing within textile factories, a group of concerned citizens has brought a class-action lawsuit against ABC Textiles, Inc. The class claims that the company’s textile mill has contributed to elevated chromium levels in the river, causing skin reactions at the local beach.
Due to the significance of this litigation, the Judge involved with the case, The Honorable Orlana Leia, has brought you in as an expert witness, independent of either side of the litigation, to give your expert opinion on the chromium exceedance. At your request, she is providing you with data from the 45 samples the water utility collected. She has requested that you analyze whether the chromium levels in the river exceed the EPA standard. Because there are no other outputs to the river within 5 miles, it can be presumed that the textile plant is the most likely source of elevated chromium levels, if they are present in the river. The area between the output of the industrial plant and the beachfront is populated with residential housing, and the prosecution and defense have agreed that illegal dumping or another source of contamination in this area is highly unlikely.
She is requiring that you complete your work with a high level of confidence, therefore you have suggested using a significance level of .01 (i.e., 99% confidence). You are to provide the jury with which side of the litigation you would support and why in a written document that makes the determination clear and believable to them. The document you are to provide is to follow the court's template and their Legal memorandum guide. You will also copy the document to John Coltrane, Clerk of the Courts, Mitchell Bilano, Plaintiffs’ Counsel, and Jill Gailow, Defendant’s Counsel. Remember that you are only an expert on statistical analysis of the exceedance of chromium in the river, not on whether elevated chromium can cause allergic dermatitis. Be careful not to overstate your findings – don’t make any assumptions that aren’t very clearly suggested by the data.
Present specifically, and concisely the answer you got from your analysis. This answer must include a technical and legal component. The answer will not have details on your analysis or numeric outcomes.
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