Are you one of the many V.I. residents with polybutylene plumbing in your home? If so, you are a candidate for participation in a multimillion-dollar class action suit against its developers and manufacturers.
The suit seeks to piggyback on a $750 million settlement already made to polybutylene customers in the 50 states.
That settlement came in a suit against Shell Oil Company and others, alleging they knew the polybutylene system was exceedingly prone to leaks but continued to market and sell it.
St. Thomas attorney Jeffrey Weiss filed an Action for Damages in Territorial Court on behalf of the owners of two apartment complexes and one owner of an individual unit in the Virgin Islands after they learned that they were not eligible to tap into the statewide settlement.
Weiss had hoped to bring the suit as a class action on behalf of polybutylene users in all the U.S. territories, but the court denied that motion, partly because of jurisdictional considerations.
But last month Territorial Court Judge Edgar Ross granted an amended action allowing a class action suit on behalf of "owners of property in the U.S. Virgin Islands in which a polybutylene plumbing system was or is installed."
Weiss believes polybutylene is widespread in the territory. While the V.I. was in a construction boom in the late '70s and '80s, it was being marketed as an inexpensive, easy-to-install, state-of-the art system.
The lawyer said he has already identified enough units to amount to $5 million worth of damages on St. Thomas and $3 million to $4 million on St. Croix. He believes there are a lot more.
Weiss brought his original action on behalf of St. Croix Ltd., St. Thomas I Ltd. and St. Thomas II Ltd., owners of Carib Villa Apartments on St. Croix and Sunrise Cove Apartments and Clearview Apartments on St. Thomas, as well as Llewellyn Phillips, a St. Thomas homeowner.
The defendants are Shell Oil Company, D/B/A Shell Chemical Co.; Hoechst Celanese Corporation and E.I. DuPont de Nemours and Company.
While the statewide settlement covered only repair/replacement costs, Weiss is seeking additional damages for Virgin Islands residents in the form of compensation for lost water and, possibly, loss of use of rental property and other damages.
How do you know if you have polybutylene pipe in your home?
A notice sent out in the statewide class action suit (Cox v. Shell, et al.) describes it as follows:
Polybutlyene pipe ("PB Pipe") is non-rigid, sometimes curved, usually gray (or possibly silver or black) plastic pipe used in water supply plumbing systems.
When used in the underground service from the water company, PB pipe is blue, gray, or black.
PB pipe is not used for drains, waste, or vent piping.
PB pipe is not PVC or CPVC, which is a rigid white or off-white plastic pipe.
