Lawyers request class action in chemical spill

CINCINNATI (AP) -- More than 30,000 residents and workers affected by the release of a toxic chemical from a railroad car in August should be paid damages, attorneys argued.
Lawyers representing residents on the city's east side made the claim when they asked a Hamilton County judge Friday to combine their lawsuits into a single class-action complaint against the companies they blame for the chemical leak, which forced a three-day evacuation of 800 homes and businesses.
A tanker owned by Houston-based Westlake Chemical leaked vapor from its load of styrene Aug. 28. The chemical, used to make plastics, synthetic rubber and resins, is a highly flammable liquid hazardous to breathe in gaseous form.