Limiting Liabilities: Book Two - The Martinique Files

by Colette Alaine

  “Already got that part going,” Ken enlightens his attorney. “So far no sign of anyone. I’m hoping they haven’t stopped for the season.”

  Billy is anxious to learn Ken’s theory. “You think they hold onto it all summer long?”

  “Could be. That I don’t know.” Ken shakes his head.

  “How can you be sure they don’t dump in the warm months?” Now Tawny is curious about his findings.

  “I believe we tested soon after a dumping. The levels were just so high in that area. The testing further into the lake showed signs of lower ppb of chromium 6 than closer to the shore but still well beyond what had been the norm for years.” Ken gives her an overview.

  “What are you actually finding?” Billy asks.

  “Sludge.” Billy’s eyebrows shoot up and Ken expands a bit. “Lead chromate sludge.”

  “Electroplating?” Tawny understands what Billy doesn’t and inquires.

  “Yeah, chrome plating to be exact,” Ken answers.

  Billy hates being the one out of the loop. “Okay, you two scientists give me some details. What does that mean?”

  “Metal plating for automobile parts, kitchen faucets and pipes, stuff like that. Lots of potential culprits in Chicago and the surrounding area,” Ken continues to enlighten his favorite lawyer, loving the fact that Tawny understood it before Billy did.

  “So we really have to catch them in the act,” Billy surmises.

  Ken grabs another large piece of pizza pie. “Pretty much if we’re gonna stop it.”

  “Sounds like a lawsuit to me.” Billy raises his soda.

  CHAPTER 8

  W ith Ken in town, Tawny’s late hours send her straight to bed when she arrives at the apartment. Assuming Jaclyn is already asleep, the first night she quietly moves around the apartment and spends as little time in the bathroom as she can. Filled to the gills with pizza from lunch and too much steak and sides of asparagus, mushrooms and overly stuffed baked potatoes with a huge helping of chocolate mousse for dessert, she cannot wait to just lie down.

  The second night Tawny tries not to eat as much. Spending most of the day researching, she goes out only for a huge lunch and equally large dinner, skipping all in between snacks. Nick joins them and pretty much overwhelms the conversation trying to fit in and catch up. It makes the evening awkward but with having to wait for his partnership and being left out of this case, Billy tries to make nice with him to keep him happy.

  Ken figures it out and indulges him at first but then appears to be irritated at the whole scene. He turns his attention to Tawny, who has not said much. Understanding she needs to back down and let Nick have his say, she concentrates on eating her lobster and listening to the senior associate.

  “Any great finds today, Tawny?” Ken asks knowing she was in front of the computer all day.

  “I contacted Dr. Harold Anderson at the University of Illinois early this morning after talking to you yesterday. He was one of my professors at my alma mater and he said in electroplating operations they produce chromium 6 waste in spent acid baths, in rinse waters, in sludges produced in the baths during operation and treatment and in treated rinse water.” Tawny rattles off and it is clear only she and Ken are catching the full meaning.

  “He thinks the spent baths and rinse waters and lead chromate sludge produced during operation have the highest chromium 6 concentrations,” she continues. “Once the spent baths and rinse waters are treated, much of the chromium 6 is converted to the less toxic chromium 3. The one thing he isn’t sure of is how much waste water containing chromium 6 is produced and the chromium 6 concentrations in this water. It would seem that for someone to dump the wastewater in Lake Michigan the volume would have to be relatively small, the concentrations of chromium 6 high and the costs for treatment high. Whoever is dumping is either ignorant of or doesn’t pay attention to the location of the city drinking water inlet and dumps near this.”

  “He’s exactly right, Tawny. I actually know Harry Anderson. What a great guy and an excellent environmental engineer. I’ve tried to recruit him to work for me but he likes where he is and won’t budge from the University. I didn’t know you did your undergrad at U of I.” Ken is impressed.

  “Yeah. I had a blast there. Remember I’m from Indiana. U of I is where a lot of us Hoosiers go.” She winks.

  “I truly don’t see you as a Hoosier,” Ken remarks as Billy laughs.

  “Well, I am.” She shakes her luxurious head of hair. “Through and through,” she says with attitude.

  “So did Dr. Anderson tell you anything else?” Ken is excited to learn the man is involved with case.

  “He also suggested looking into whether the city drinking water treatment system would take chromium 6 out of the raw water. I Googled the treatment processes and it walks you right through it. If you want I can send all of it to you and the URL for the page on the City of Chicago’s website.”

  “That’d be good for us to see, Tawny.” Billy is excited by his young associate’s work. This type of research is where she shines.

  “Sure, I definitely will. Dr. Anderson also said that the city uses aluminum sulfate or alum to settle out impurities, blended polyphosphate to coat pipes and prevent lead leaching and activated carbon to remove unpleasant tastes and odors. None of these three processes is meant to remove chromium 6. Instead, ion exchange is typically used so he thinks the chromium 6 might pass through. That scares me because I drink that water.” Tawny once again relays her fear.

  “That is a concern and that’s why we have some upset folks calling us in to check out what’s going on,” Ken states the obvious.

  Billy interjects, apparently in order to make certain Tawny is not the star. “I’m not sure how much of this you know, Ken, but there are water cribs in Chicago that supply the City of Chicago with drinking water from Lake Michigan. The cribs are those big structures in the lake beyond the city skyline.”

  “I know a little.”

  “Just some history then about them. The first one, the Two-Mile Crib was constructed in 1865. Water was collected and transported through a tunnel sixty feet below the lake surface to the Chicago Avenue pumping station. It was replaced by the Carter Harrison crib in 1900, which was intended to be replaced by the William E. Dever crib that was built alongside it in 1935. However, increased water demand meant that the Carter Harrison crib continued to service until 1997.” Billy gives a little information off of Wikipedia himself.

  “I’m still amazed at how old they are and how well they work.” Ken obviously knows something about the cribs.

  “There are three other cribs, the Wilson Avenue crib, the Four Mile Crib, and the 68th Street crib. A fire killed seventy workers at the 68th Street crib over a hundred years ago.” Nick adds his knowledge to the conversation.

  “I did read about that.” Ken gives Billy’s associate his attention. “I also found out that the tunnels leading from the cribs are close to 200 feet beneath the lake and vary in shape from circular to ovular and in diameter from 10 to 20 feet. Lake water enters the cribs and flows through these tunnels to pumps at the Jardine Water Purification Plant and the South Water Purification Plant where the water is then treated. From there it’s pumped to all parts of the city as well as 118 suburbs.”

  “It amazes me. Did you know that until the 1990s, crib tenders lived on the cribs? Usually four man crews stayed aboard the cribs for a week at a time. They did water testing, light maintenance and dynamiting ice dams when they formed against the cribs' walls. Inside the cribs they did have some facilities, like rudimentary bathrooms, showers, and bunk rooms—and a fantastic view of the city and lake.” Billy stays in the conversation.

  “Yeah, and the Chicago cribs have also been designated a security zone. In 2002 complete security systems were installed, including video, motion detectors, microwave link and door sensors, all with direct links to Chicago Police monitoring stations. Any craft that enters the buoyed security zone is subject to boarding, ticketing and im
pounding.” Nick adds just a bit more information between bites.

  “So we know our culprit is far enough away that they can’t be seen by the security system.” Ken is thinking aloud.

  “I’m sure they’re past the beaches, too.” Billy is adding his thoughts to Ken’s.

  “Or in between more heavily populated beaches a little further north. Tawny’s point is the one that concerns the folks that reported the increase in the first place. The chromium 6 is most likely getting through the system, albeit in a diluted form. The more dumping that occurs, the more that’s likely to enter the drinking water. Then there’s all the damage to the plant and animal life in the lake,” Ken continues.

  “Too bad we can’t move the underwater lab to Lake Michigan, Ken.” Tawny references his pet project.

  “That would be nice but it’s been moved into the Gulf of Guinea. It took some negotiating and quite a lot of money but it’ll be worth it for the Nigerian people and all West African nations.” Ken does not realize Tawny is only teasing and knows that the underwater lab has to be in the bottom of the ocean. She finds it curious that it has been moved so far away from North America. It has been sent across the Atlantic. That kind of transfer had to take some time and a lot of money.

  “Did you ask them or did they ask you to bring it there?” Not knowing how all of this works she wants to know why it was transported so far away.

  “A little of both. There were so many complaints about pirating in Somalia, mainly in the Gulf of Aden and since that affected the price of oil, foreign countries intervened. Now the pirating has moved to the western side of Africa and is becoming more prolific in the Gulf of Guinea. Again, it’s beginning to affect the price of oil and all the complaints have reached the Nigerian government. They’re interested in ending piracy but the way the government works over there it’s not as simple a task as anyone would think.” Ken shakes his head. “It really involves the poverty of a nation.”

  “I’ve heard it’s pretty dismal over there. News reports and blogs don’t paint a pretty picture at all.” Tawny stops eating as she displays her knowledge.

  “Yes, well some are hit very, very hard. It’s a sad situation. No one knows how it’s going to improve any time soon. Everyone has lots of questions, some have proposed answers but in the end nothing changes.” Ken often wears his heart on his sleeve and it is a trait he shares with Tawny. It is one of the reasons the two of them connect so well.

  “That’s the same thing I’ve been reading.” Tawny hopes for the best for all people and it is so difficult for her to see anyone suffer, especially little children.

  “Anyway, we heard about the toxic dumping going on over there and asked if we could move the lab. It took us some time to locate the right folks to ask. It’s not the easiest government to penetrate. Finally, we found the right ones in charge. They were reluctant at first, probably because they took funds to allow the dumping in the first place but now they seem more open to it. Perhaps they’re looking for a solution and not just the money.” Ken always looks as life from a positive point of view. He hopes for the best but deals with the worst that usually occurs, especially in his line of work.

  “I certainly hope so for all those impoverished people.” Tawny’s heart gets caught up in the devastation of mankind. “And I’m glad that the underwater lab is back in use.”

  Last year’s catastrophe in the Atlantic Ocean is still difficult for any of them to remember. A poisonous dumping leaked into the state-of-the-art lab built to sit on the ocean floor. Some of the very best engineers, scientists and marine biologists lost their lives when they became trapped inside so deep in the water. All of them were hand-picked by Ken to live his dream of discovery and he took the news extremely hard.

  Disappearing for a time after being put on administrative leave, Ken has since focused on the good already achieved in the underwater lab and the hope for future progress. Abandoning the underwater lab would be an insult to those who gave their lives for it. So Ken worked with the United States government and his agency came under its control. They commissioned a clean-up crew to carefully sterilize the facility and get it ready for operation again. Apparently, he has been successful.

  “I’m not going to say it hasn’t been emotionally devastating to deal with what happened in that lab but I also believe all my friends died trying to promote a future good. Since I’m one of the ones left standing, I don’t want to get in the way of progress. Those fine folks made a lot of headway and the new people involved are as enthusiastic as those who lost their lives.” Ken’s mood goes from sad to hopeful within one sentence.

  “They know the risks,” Billy adds the obvious.

  Ken is quick to waylay any risks. “We’ve made adjustments to hopefully avoid any dangers like the one that killed my friends. I don’t anticipate any problems.”

  “What about the pirates?” Nick obviously is waiting to hear more about the sully side of the operation. “Aren’t you afraid the underwater lab will be attacked by them?”

  Nick should have stayed silent a bit longer. He does not know much about what goes on in the high seas when it comes to hijacking ships and taking prisoners for ransom.

  “Pirates attack ships for oil and other valuable cargo. They’re not going underwater unless they get shot and die in the ocean.” Billy is a bit put out by Nick. He is usually well prepared in his cases but this one is not the standard. It’s a Tawny case for sure. She excels at the more outlandish hazards.

  “Are the pirates even near the underwater lab?” She proposes the question to help Nick overcome Billy’s humiliation.

  “Not close at all. Pirates grab ships that drop off and pick up cargo while they’re still close enough to the shore. Don’t get me wrong. They’re not parked within a short boat ride but still not nearly as far out as the lab,” Ken elaborates.

  “I heard they’ve captured enough motherships now to branch out further.” Again, Tawny proves her in-depth knowledge.

  Nick is drinking too much and asking questions that aggravate Billy. “What’s a mothership?”

  “The pirates hijack a larger ship and anchor it further into the Gulf. Several small speed boats called skiffs then tie up to it. When it’s time to attack, the pirates jump into these skiffs and head toward the target. The pirates are basically housed on the mothership so they can make better time and avoid any law enforcement that might be around,” Tawny explains and hopes he does not ask any more easy questions; questions to which he should already know the answer.

  Billy appears impressed with his youngest associate once again. He certainly does not seem to feel bad about leaving Nick out but his questions are becoming embarrassing. “How do you know all this, Tawny?”

  “It’s on the news and I just found it interesting. I mean these people are becoming pirates because they’ve lost their livelihood to foreign trawlers who fish in their waters and take too much marine life out.” Tawny finishes her last bite of steak before adding, “The toxic dumping is killing whatever the foreigners don’t take.”

  “And the toxic dumping is your interest,” Billy surmises incorrectly.

  She shakes her head. “Actually, it’s the poverty that really bothers me. These people are stripped of the only employment they know and then forced into lives of crime to compensate. Unfortunately, the money is so good they kind of abandon any thought of what they’re doing. It’s these older men who know the water because of their fishing experience that navigate the young pirates to do the dirty work. It’s dangerous but when the take is good, it’s really good. Many of these people have no alternatives so this is how they survive.” Tawny gently lets Billy know it is the human side of the issue that captures her heart.

  After ordering another drink he should not have, Nick adds his two cents much to Billy’s dismay. “So the young pirates need the experience of the old fishermen to get rich, which insures the old guys are still in charge.”

  Tawny interjects to save Nick from Billy’s wrath
, which is becoming more and more evident with every sentence the senior associate says. “Some of the young pirates are the kin of the fishermen. When trust is scarce you look to family for security. The Nigerian government isn’t helping matters as much as they should and that certainly adds to the problem. Unemployment is rampant and so many people need jobs. The area is rich in products but without the proper management nothing gets done,” Tawny continues to explain her interest and the plight of the Nigerian people.

  “The government leaders tend to take more than they distribute,” Ken says. “It’s a sad state of affairs to say the least. It’s going to take a massive overhaul for anything to be corrected.”

  Tawny is enthralled with this conversation. It is the devastation of human dignity that touches her most. “It’s going to take leaders who really care about people as people, I think. They don’t value the life of each individual and when that happens people are nothing more than chattel. They do the job and stay out of the minds and hearts of the governing few. It’s so sad to see a nation that could be a leader in tending to the well-being of its people neglect them so openly.” Tawny is just about to get on her soapbox.

  “So the lab is safe and that’s what matters.” Again, Nick is so out of line.

  “Maybe to you but it appears that Tawny is concerned about more than just the lab.” Billy is almost ready to kick Nick out of the restaurant.

  “Billy, you’re usually the one that doesn’t care about anyone outside the case. I just said what you would’ve said.” Billy looks at Nick as though he just had a long look in the mirror. Tawny suddenly realizes Nick is becoming Billy and Billy is realizing how horrible he has been in the past. It is a sobering moment for the senior partner.

  “I’ve changed some in the past year, I guess,” Billy finally admits.

  “That last case with me did you more good than you even figured, huh, Billy?” Ken seems to have noticed a change in Billy; nothing dramatic but enough to know that Billy’s heart is starting to do more than just pump blood.