While 80 more Duncan residents signed onto a federal lawsuit against Halliburton Energy Services because of groundwater contamination dating back to the 1960s, a federal judge in Oklahoma City has refused to limit the testimony of a company hydrology expert at the approaching trial.
U.S. District judge Vicki Miles-LaGrange issued her ruling this week as attorney Stephen Jones attempted to exclude or limit testimony from Halliburton hydrologist Steven Larson who was considered to be an expert witness in the trial scheduled for August.
The lawsuit filed in October of 2011 by Duncan residents blamed Halliburton for contamination of water over the missile motor cleaning operation it maintained for the U.S. Defense Department from the mid 1960s until 1991. The groundwater had been contaminated with perchlorate and Jones and another attorney had retained two hydrologists to testify about the impacts of the perchlorate. Halliburton’s expert, Larson, “has offered a critique of the methodology and conclusions reached” by the two other hydrologists.
Meanwhile, another 80 Duncan residents joined the lawsuit as of April 12 and that a trial date for six of the lawsuits has been set for Aug. 9, 2016. Many of the original claims made in the 2011 lawsuit have reached a settlement, according to a report in the Duncan Banner. The paper said court documents showed 65 of the 66 plaintiffs agreed to a settlement with Halliburton on 44 of the 45 properties. Another 50 of the 57 plaintiffs on the same properties did the same.
