Cryptosporidium Lawyer & Attorney : Marler Clark : Cryptosporidium Blog

Marler Clark filed a class action lawsuit against the New York Office of State Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation on behalf of over nearly 4,000 people who became ill with Cryptosporidiosis after visiting the Sprayground at Seneca Lake State Park in June, July, and August, 2005.  The Class was recently certified.

The New York State Health Department shut down the Sprayground on August 15 after it was determined that the Sprayground’s water holding tanks, which were used to recycle water, were contaminated with Cryptosporidium.

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The Judge in the Court of Claims recently certified the Cryptosporidium case against the State of New York as a class action. This order officially turns the case into a class action. The certification of the class is a big help in terms of getting the state to deal with these claims. The class members include all those who are existing Marler Clark, Underberg & Kessler, or Dreyer Boyajian clients and have filed a claim against the State. The Judge has also indicated that the Class can be expanded to include others who now come forward and follow the procedures necessary to making a Cryptosporidium claim against the State. Individuals who wish to join the class should contact Marler Clark at marler@marlerclark.com or toll-free at (866) 770-2032.

We are in the process of requesting information from the State concerning the Spray Park in an effort to demonstrate what we believe was the State's obvious negligence in failing to have adequate protections against Cryptosporidia. At the same time, we are assembling basic information about all class members to share with the State in order to establish a basis for compensation. While it is too early to know what course the class action will follow, our goal is to reach a negotiated resolution with the State for monetary compensation for our clients.

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Ruling allows victims of 2005 Cryptosporidium outbreak at Seneca Lake State Park to join class action lawsuit against State of New York

ROCHESTER, NY (July 14, 2006) -- A class action lawsuit filed against the State of New York Department of Parks, Recreation, and Historical Preservation was certified today. The class certification ruling allows all persons who became ill with Cryptosporidiosis and/or were otherwise damaged as a result of the Cryptosporidium outbreak at the Seneca Lake State Park Spraypark in 2005 to join the class and receive compensation for their injuries and economic damages. Attorneys from Marler Clark, Underberg & Kessler, and Dreyer Boyajian filed the motion requesting certification of the class in December.

"We are very pleased that the Judge ruled in favor of certifying the class action," said Paul Nunes, a partner in Underberg & Kessler. "This decision allows people who have not already filed claims to join the action now. We encourage those who have not yet filed a claim to contact us so they can become part of the class."

The Court not only certified the class action lawsuit, but also consolidated all claims previously brought on behalf of victims by Marler Clark, Underberg & Kessler, and Dreyer Boyajian. "By consolidating all claims into one class, the Court has done a considerable favor to taxpayers. The State's resources will now be focused on one large claim instead of on hundreds of smaller claims," added Bruce Clark, a partner in Marler Clark.

"We're hoping that certification of the class and consolidation of all claims will speed up the process by which victims receive compensation," said Donald Boyajian, a partner at Dreyer Boyajian.

The New York State Health Department shut down the Sprayground on August 15, 2005, after it was determined that the Sprayground's water holding tanks, which were used to recycle water, were contaminated with Cryptosporidium. On August 26, the Health Department issued an update on its investigation into the outbreak, announcing that 3,297 cases of Cryptosporidium had been reported in 33 New York counties. Of those cases, 415 were confirmed cases reported to the State Health Department. Thirty-three people had been hospitalized with Cryptosporidiosis.

Marler Clark has represented thousands of victims of bacterial, viral, and parasitic illness since 1993. The firm is currently litigating food borne illness cases involving E. coli, Salmonella, Shigella, Listeria, Cryptosporidium, Norovirus, and Hepatitis A. Together with Underberg & Kessler, Marler Clark represented 72 victims of the Brook-Lea Country Club Salmonella outbreak in 2002. Dreyer Boyajian represented members of a class action lawsuit in litigation resulting from the E. coli O157:H7 outbreak at the Washington County Fair in 2000.

For more information, contact Suzanne Schreck at 206/346-1879 or sschreck@marlerclark.com.

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3/20/2006 2:00 PM
(WROC-TV)

Lawyers for victims of a Cryptosporidium outbreak will appear before the State of New York Court of Claims in Syracuse on Monday, March 20th, to argue a motion in favor of the certification of a class action lawsuit against the State of New York Department of Parks, Recreation, and Historical Preservation.

If the class action is certified, all persons who became ill with Cryptosporidiosis and/or were otherwise damaged as a result of the Cryptosporidium outbreak at the Seneca Lake State Park Spraypark in 2005 would be eligible to join the class and receive compensation for their injuries and economic damages.

The New York State Health Department shut down the Seneca Lake State Park Sprayground on August 15, 2005, after it was determined that the Sprayground's water holding tanks, which were used to recycle water, were contaminated with Cryptosporidium.

On August 26, the Health Department issued an update on its investigation into the outbreak, announcing that 3,297 cases of Cryptosporidium had been reported in 33 New York counties.

Of those cases, 415 were confirmed cases reported to the State Health Department. Thirty-three people had been hospitalized with Cryptosporidiosis.

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By CRAIG FOX

Finger Lakes Times
cfox@fltimes.com

Three law firms representing 663 people who became ill after visiting the Seneca Lake State Park Sprayground last summer want to combine their efforts into one class action lawsuit.

A hearing has been scheduled for Jan. 18 in Syracuse, where the Seattle firm of Marler Clark and Rochester attorney Paul Nunes of Utterberg & Kessler will ask a Court of Appeals judge to let them join their cases with those of the Dreyer Boyajian law firm in Albany.

Nunes and the Seattle firm were already working together on a class action suit against the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, which owns and runs the park.

The three firms want to team up because they have an expertise in class action lawsuits involving food-borne and water-contamination illnesses, Nunes said.

The sprayground was closed Aug. 15 after about 40 people complained of a gastrointestinal illness. In subsequent weeks, the outbreak grew to nearly 4,000 people across the nation.

The state Health Department determined the illness was cryptosporidiosis, caused by a microscopic parasite.

During the January hearing, the attorneys also will ask Judge Nicholas J. Midey to certify the class action lawsuit, Nunes said.

"It'll formalize and consolidate our lawsuit," Nunes said. "By certifying it, it will show that this is an appropriate lawsuit to be handled in a class action suit."

Assistant Attorney General Ed Thompson, who is representing the Parks Department, said the certification is just the next step in filing a class action suit.

"It's just a procedure. This is very, very early on in the suit," Thompson said.

The lawsuit will seek compensation for damages, including pain and suffering, as well as medical expenses and lost wages.

Wendy Gibson, spokesperson for the state parks office, couldn't be reached for comment Wednesday.

Working with the state Health Department, the state parks department has started rewriting regulations governing water quality at all sprayparks and hopes to implement them by February.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact Suzanne Schreck
206-346-1879
sschreck@marlerclark.com

ROCHESTER, NY (December 19, 2005) - Attorneys from Marler Clark, Underberg & Kessler, and Dreyer Boyajian filed a motion Friday for certification of a class action lawsuit against the State of New York Department of Parks, Recreation, and Historical Preservation. If the class action is certified, all persons who became ill with Cryptosporidiosis and/or were otherwise damaged as a result of the Cryptosporidium outbreak at the Seneca Lake State Park Spraypark in 2005 would be eligible to join the class and receive compensation for their injuries and economic damages.

The New York State Health Department shut down the Sprayground on August 15, 2005, after it was determined that the Sprayground's water holding tanks, which were used to recycle water, were contaminated with Cryptosporidium. On August 26, the Health Department issued an update on its investigation into the outbreak, announcing that 3,297 cases of Cryptosporidium had been reported in 33 New York counties. Of those cases, 415 were confirmed cases reported to the State Health Department. Thirty-three people had been hospitalized with Cryptosporidiosis.

Paul Nunes, a partner in Underberg & Kessler, spoke in favor of class certification, saying, "Class certification is the best way for both plaintiffs and defendants to conserve resources and resolve claims in a timely manner. Unless the class is certified, the courts will be unnecessarily burdened with expensive litigation that could go on for years."

Bruce Clark, a partner at Marler Clark, agreed. "In the long run, the State of New York as well as the victims of this preventable tragedy will benefit by having this whole matter resolved in one Court with all interested parties involved."

"Class certification makes sense not only from a legal perspective, but also from a taxpayer's perspective," added Donald Boyajian, a partner in Dreyer Boyajian.

Marler Clark (www.marlerclark.com) has represented thousands of victims of bacterial, viral, and parasitic illness since 1993. The firm is currently litigating food borne illness cases involving E. coli, Salmonella, Shigella, Listeria, Cryptosporidium, Norovirus, and Hepatitis A. Together with Underberg & Kessler (www.underbergkessler.com), Marler Clark represented 72 victims of the Brook-Lea Country Club Salmonella outbreak in 2002. Dreyer Boyajian (www.dreyerboyajian.com) represented members of a class action lawsuit in litigation resulting from the E. coli O157:H7 outbreak at the Washington County Fair in 2000.

For further information, please visit www.Cryptosporidiumblog.com or contact Suzanne Schreck at (206) 346-1879, or by e-mail at sschreck@marlerclark.com.

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Patrice Walsh (Ontario County, NY) 10/18/05 - A day at the park turned out to be anything but for hundreds of Rochester-area families who were among the thousands sickened after visiting the spray park at Seneca Lake this summer.

Toni Lynn Van Bramer remembers telling her four-year-old son Joshua not to drink the water at the spray park when they visited in August. A week later, both of them were sick with gastrointestinal symptoms.

Van Bramer said, "It ruined the rest of the summer...it took us two and a half to three weeks before we felt normal...I was afraid to take him anywhere to make anybody else sick."

Tim Springer was the only one in his family who did not go to the spray park at the end of July, but he wound up the sickest.

He said, "One by one [my family] started getting sick."

Springer ended up spending five days in the hospital, missing two weeks of work and losing 12 pounds after his wife and three children passed the illness to him.

He said the pain was so intense that, "I was in the fetal position in the hospital--on morphine."

Class Action Lawsuit

Tim and Toni Lynn are among the hundreds from Rochester who reported illnesses linked to the spray park. They are part of a planned class-action lawsuit against the state.

Attorney Paul Nunes said, "We think the facts will show this is a simple case of negligence."

Officials at the state attorney general's office had no comment on the legal action.

The park was closed down after the illnesses were reported.

State health department workers found that the water was contaminated with a parasite, but have not determined how the contamination occurred.

New Regulations In The Works
Spencer said this case isn't about money, it's about accountability.
"There's no amount of money you could give me," he said, "I wouldn't want to go through that again."

The concern now is future safety of similar spray parks. The state health department is working on new regulations for spray parks including one that requires parks to use ultraviolet light technology to kill parasites in the water.

Those specific regulations will be released at the end of November.

Those named in the suit are asking for money for pain and suffering, lost time from work, and doctors' and hospital visits.

Only those who contact attorneys can be part of any class action case.

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By CRAIG FOX
Finger Lakes Times
cfox@fltimes.com

A lawyer representing about 250 people who became ill after visiting the Seneca Lake State Park spraypark was scheduled to appear in a court of claims in Syracuse this morning to get the state to notify everyone who is eligible to join the suit his firm has filed.

Rochester attorney Paul Nunes wants the state to notify each of the 4,000 people who contacted the Depart-ment of Health because time is running out on the 90 days they have to file a notice of claim to preserve their right to sue.

"This comes in the general heading of: It's the right thing to do," Nunes said.

Nunes, a partner with the Rochester law firm of Underberg and Kessler, is working with a Seattle-based law firm that is an expert in waterborne illness suits. They have filed a suit against the state Department of Parks, Recreation and Historic Places.

An Albany attorney has also filed suit for another set of people who suffered the parasitic illness.

The spraypark was closed in mid-August after about 40 people complained about becoming ill shortly after being there. Reported incidents of the illness quickly spread to more than 20 counties in the state and beyond.

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The outbreak of a stomach illness at a spray park in Geneva has now moved into an upstate courtroom and it could soon become a class-action lawsuit. In a Syracuse courthouse Wednesday a Rochester lawyer says he has more than 250 clients who say they got sick from the spray park. But Paul Nunes says he knows there are thousands of other victims out there and he hopes they know their rights. "Giving notice to the department of health is not enough. You have to file a claim against the state of New York to protect your rights and time is running out."

Nunes says many of his clients did not know they had to take that step so he came to the court of claims to ask a judge to require the state to tell all 4,000 people that information.

The attorney generals office, which is defending the state, says it's a ridiculous request.

"What the claimants are looking for today is essentially an invitation from the State of New York to file a lawsuit against it," said Assistant New York Attorney General Winthrop Thurlow.

Thurlow says by now, most people who got sick from the spray park should either know their legal rights and/or have taken legal action.

He says it's an unnecessary step, one that is not within the law and one that would benefit Nunes and his law firm by bringing them more clients.

Nunes says that's not the motivation. He says just look at the paperwork. Some people got so sick; they were hospitalized and missed weeks of work. A wrong he says, that should not go unpunished because they don't understand the legal system.

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By CRAIG FOX
Finger Lakes Times
cfox@fltimes.com

GENEVA - A Rochester attorney and a nationally known Seattle law firm have filed a class action suit on behalf of families who became sick after visiting the spraypark at Seneca Lake State Park.

The Seattle law firm of Marler Clark and Rochester attorney Paul Nunes filed the case Tuesday against the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, which owns and runs the state park.

The four-year-old sprayground was closed Aug. 15 after about 40 people complained of a gastrointestinal illness. In subsequent weeks, reports of the outbreak grew to nearly 4,000 people across the state and nation.

The state Health Department determined the illness was cryptosporidiosis, caused by a microscopic parasite.

The lawsuit was filed with the state Attorney General's office and it names Monroe County residents Timothy and Jacqueline Springer and their three children as the plaintiffs, but Nunes and the Seattle law firm also are representing several other families.

The Springer family became ill with the gastrointestinal illness after visiting the spraypark July 26, said Seattle attorney Bill Marler. Timothy Springer suffered such a severe case of the illness that he was hospitalized for three days, Marler said.

"Thousands of other people suffered the sane fate because the Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Places failed to ensure the water at the spraypark was safe," Marler said.

Wendy Gibson, spokeswoman for the state parks office, couldn't be reached for comment Tuesday night.

Two weeks ago, Nunes and the Seattle firm took the first step in filing a lawsuit by filing a notice of claim with the state attorney general's office.

The class action lawsuit will proportionately divide any damages awarded to any claimants who become involved in the lawsuit.

The lawsuit is on behalf of people who were:

# Hospitalized for three days and had complications or invasive procedures;

# Admitted to an in-patient unit for hospitalization;

# Received outpatient medical care, including administration of IV fluids and;

# Received minimal medical care.

Last week, an Albany firm also filed a notice of claim involving another class action lawsuit on behalf of other families who became sick after visiting the spraypark.

On Aug. 26, the state Health Department concluded it will rewrite regulations governing water quality at all sprayparks and will implement them by November.

Marler has maintained that there is an ongoing problem with water quality in sprayparks across the country, with about 170 outbreaks at a variety of water recreational venues during between 1989 and 1999.

Many sprayparks across the country have been permanently closed after outbreaks have occurred, Marler said. So far, 33 people have been hospitalized with cryptosporidiosis from the Seneca Lake spraypark outbreak.

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By BEN DOBBIN
Associated Press Writer
September 13, 2005, 1:34 PM EDT

ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- The agency that oversees New York's parks and recreation sites was the target of a class-action lawsuit filed Tuesday on behalf of an estimated 3,800 people who developed gastrointestinal illnesses after visiting a popular water park in central New York.

A suburban Rochester couple, Tim and Jackie Springer, and their three young children became ill after spending the day at the state-run Sprayground near Geneva in late July. After caring for his children, the father ended up in the hospital with a secondary infection, the lawsuit alleged.

The Springers were named as plaintiffs in the lawsuit against the Office of State Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, but "thousands of other people suffered the same fate because the (agency) failed to ensure the water ... was safe," said attorney William Marler.

A class-action lawsuit is "the most effective way of handling this many ill people," said Marler, who specializes in litigation involving food and waterborne illnesses.

His Seattle-based firm has already been contacted by more than 100 people, he said.

The state agency, which maintains 172 parks, 35 historic sites and thousands of campgrounds, beaches, golf courses, trails and other recreation areas, doesn't comment on pending litigation, said spokeswoman Wendy Gibson.

Of some 3,800 people who reported becoming ill this summer after visiting the Sprayground, which has water jets shooting up from a hardtop surface, at least 33 were hospitalized.

The state Health Department shut down the Seneca Lake Park attraction in mid-August after tests found a common waterborne disease known as cryptosporidium in two storage tanks. The highly contagious disease can cause diarrhea, nausea and fever that can last for weeks. It usually goes away without treatment in healthy individuals.

Sprayground was first closed temporarily on Aug. 16 after officials received more than 100 reports of illnesses dating to early July. Once the outbreak was made public, the number of cases rapidly escalated.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact Suzanne Schreck
1-800-884-9840 Ext. 1879
sschreck@marlerclark.com

ROCHESTER, NY (September 13, 2005) - Marler Clark and Underberg & Kessler filed a class action complaint today against the New York Office of State Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. The lawsuit, which was filed in the State of New York Court of Claims, was filed on behalf of nearly 4,000 people who became ill with Cryptosporidiosis after visiting the Spraypark at Seneca Lake State Park in July and August. The named plaintiffs in the lawsuit are Timothy and Jacqueline Springer, a Monroe County couple, and their three children, who became ill with Cryptosporidium infections after visiting the Spraypark in late July.

"We filed this lawsuit as a class action lawsuit as the most effective way of handling this many ill people, especially children," said William Marler, managing partner of Seattle-based Marler Clark. "The Springer children suffered Cryptosporidiosis after playing at the Spraypark, and Mr. Springer had to be hospitalized after suffering a secondary infection after caring for his children. Thousands of other people suffered the same fate because the Office of State Parks failed to ensure the water at the Spraypark was safe."

Paul Nunes, a partner with Rochester firm Underberg & Kessler, added, "Claims against the Office of State Parks must be brought within ninety days of the injury, or cannot be brought at all. Besides filing a class action, we urge all people sickened to file timely Notices of Claim with the State in order to preserve your rights."

Four sub-classes have been proposed within the class action claim filed today so that any damages awarded will be divided proportionally to the injuries sustained by class members. The sub-classes include:

- Persons hospitalized for more than three days and who had complications or an invasive procedure,
- Persons who were admitted to an inpatient unit for hospitalization,
- Persons who received outpatient medical care, including the administration of IV fluids, and
- Persons who required minimal medical care

"We have taken into account the fact that people's injuries vary greatly, and have tried to come up with a way to compensate all class members as fairly as possible," Marler concluded.

###

Marler Clark and Underberg & Kessler have been contacted by over 100 ill persons. For more information contact Suzanne Schreck at 206-346-1879 or sschreck@marlerclark.com.

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Friday, September 02, 2005
By CRAIG FOX
Finger Lakes Times
cfox@fltimes.com

GENEVA - A Rochester attorney and a nationally known Seattle law firm yesterday filed a notice of claim for a class action suit they may bring on behalf of some families who became sick after visiting the spraypark at Seneca Lake State Park.

The law firm of Marler Clark and Rochester attorney Paul Nunes filed the paperwork in the case that could be brought against the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, which owns and runs the state park.

The 4-year-old sprayground was closed Aug. 15 after about 40 people complained of a gastrointestinal illness. In subsequent weeks, reports of the outbreak grew to more than 3,869 people in 35 counties -- with 612 cases confirmed.

The state Health Department determined the illness was cryptosporidiosis, caused by a microscopic parasite.

Filed with the state Attorney General's office, the notice of claim names Rochester resident Tricia Van Putte and her two young children as plaintiffs, but Nunes and the Seattle law firm are also representing several other families.

"This is just the first step," Nunes said Thursday, adding they had only 90 days to file this paperwork before the statutes of limitations would have run out.

Nunes said that days after their Aug. 11 visit to the spraypark, Van Putte and her two young children, Grace and Tyler, came down with diarrhea, abdominal cramping, nausea, vomiting, fever, headache and loss of appetite.

The attorneys will now start gathering information, conducting research and reviewing evidence before deciding whether to proceed with the lawsuit, they said.

Wendy Gibson, a spokeswoman with state parks office, said she could not comment on potential litigation.

Earlier in the week, Gibson said that the state still has not found what caused the cryptosporidium parasite to contaminate two water-holding tanks connected to the sprayground's filtration system.

Before the notice of claim was filed Thursday, Albany attorney Don Boyajian, a partner with Dreyer Boyajian, LLP, in Albany, was already soliciting clients, saying his firm could file a class action lawsuit to sue for the pain and suffering and lost wages. Boyajian has been running ads in the Finger Lakes Times as recent as Wednesday, looking for clients.

The Seattle firm has been involved in some of the country's most high-profile lawsuits involving food-and waterborne contamination, E. coli, hepatitis and salmonella. Its biggest case involved children who were contaminated with E. coli at several Jack In The Box restaurants on the West Coast in 1993. The family of a 12-year-old girl who was hospitalized for several months was awarded $15.6 million.

The firm has also represented several people contaminated with E. coli at a petting zoo in Florida three years ago.

In 2002, Seattle attorney Bill Marler and Nunes also worked together on a case in which more than 75 people got salmonella during a function at the Brook-Lea Country Club in Rochester.

Contacted in his Seattle office, Marler said there must have been "a design or functional flaw" in the spraypark system because the outbreak lasted several weeks and so many people got sick.

"It's not a logical explanation" that feces from a child whose diaper was changed near the water park could have been the source of the contamination, he said.

On Aug. 26, the Health Department concluded it will rewrite regulations governing water quality at all sprayparks and will implement them by November.

But Marler contended there's an ongoing problem with water quality in spray parks across the country, with about 170 outbreaks at a variety of water recreational venues during between 1989 and 1999.

Many sprayparks across the country have been permanently closed after outbreaks have occurred, Marler said. So far, 33 people have been hospitalized with cryptosporidiosis from the Seneca Lake spraypark outbreak, he said.

An unidentified family of four sisters, their eight children and their parents all became ill last month, and the husband of one of the women was hospitalized for three days with dehydration, Nunes said.

"It can affect people in different ways," said Nunes, an attorney with the firm of Underberg & Kessler.

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Notice filed against state over Sprayground outbreak

Lauren Stanforth
Staff writer

(September 2, 2005) - Two lawyers filed a notice Thursday with the state Attorney General's Office that they intend to pursue a class action lawsuit against the state for the massive parasitic outbreak that struck Seneca Lake State Park's Sprayground this summer.

Tricia Van Putte of Greece is the only individual named in the notice of claim. She appears in the notice on behalf of herself and her two small children who attended the Sprayground on Aug. 11 and contracted cryptosporidiosis, a gastrointestinal illness caused by the parasite cryptosporidium.

But the notice also alerts the state of the attorneys' intentions to file a lawsuit involving more clients. Rochester lawyer Paul Nunes, one of the lawyers who filed the notice, said he has been contacted by about three dozen people interested in getting retribution for illness associated with the park.

"One family talked about not being able to enjoy their back yard pool during this beautiful weather," Nunes said. But also, "we've got a husband of a family in the hospital this evening," with symptoms from cryptosporidiosis.

In one of the nation's largest waterborne parasitic outbreaks, the parasite somehow infiltrated the Sprayground's water supply, which is recycled daily.

More than 3,800 people from 35 New York counties have reported becoming ill after having contact with the Sprayground between June and mid-August. At least 33 people have been hospitalized.

The state closed the Sprayground near Geneva, Ontario County, in mid-August after finding cryptosporidium in the park's water tanks.

The state Health Department is still investigating the incident.

The state Attorney General's Office, which defends lawsuits against the state, said this was the first notice of claim filed in the incident. Marc Violette, a spokesman for the office, had no further comment. Wendy Gibson, spokeswoman for the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, which is named in the notice, also would not comment.

Nunes filed the notice of claim with William Marler, a Seattle lawyer known for litigation involving food and waterborne illness.

LSTANFOR@DemocratandChronicle.com

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Lauren Stanforth
Staff writer

(September 1, 2005) - Rochester and Seattle attorneys together filed a notice today with the state attorney general's office that they intend to pursue a class action lawsuit against the state for the massive parasitic outbreak that struck Seneca Lake State Park's Sprayground last month.

Tricia Van Putte of Greece is the only individual named in the lawsuit. She appears in the lawsuit on behalf of her two small children who attended the Sprayground on Aug. 11 and contracted cryptosporidiosis, the gastrointestinal illness that is caused by the parasite.

The state found the parasite in the Sprayground's two water tanks in mid-August. The state has said its investigation into how the parasite got there is continuing. More than 3,200 people have reported becoming ill after attending the spray park between June and mid-August.

The notice said a class action lawsuit involving other clients could be started through Van Putte's claim. A notice of claim is not a lawsuit; it is a document that allows attorneys more time to file a lawsuit.

The Seattle attorney specializes in public health outbreak cases.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ROCHESTER, NY (September 1, 2005) - Marler Clark and Underberg & Kessler filed a notice of claim today against the New York Office of State Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. The notice indicates the intent to file a class action lawsuit on behalf of over 3,200 people who became ill with Cryptosporidiosis after visiting the Sprayground at Seneca Lake State Park in July and August. The notice was filed on behalf of Tricia Van Putte and her two young children, who will be the named plaintiffs in the class action lawsuit, and who became ill with Cryptosporidium infections after visiting the Sprayground. Marler Clark and Underberg and Kessler have been retained by several other families.

The New York State Health Department shut down the Sprayground on August 15 after it was determined that the Sprayground's water holding tanks, which were used to recycle water, were contaminated with Cryptosporidium. On August 26, the Health Department issued an update on its investigation into the outbreak, announcing that 3,297 cases of Cryptosporidium had been reported in 33 New York counties. Of those cases, 415 were confirmed cases reported to the State Health Department. Thirty-three people had been hospitalized with Cryptosporidiosis.

In 1997, 369 people, mostly children, became ill with Cryptosporidiosis after playing in a water fountain at a Minnesota zoo. In 1999, at least 38 people became ill with Cryptosporidium or Shigella infections after playing in a spray fountain at a beachside park in Florida.

"Whether they are publicly or privately operated, all water parks should have sanitation measures in place to prevent outbreaks. The majority of people who play in sprayparks and pools are children -- the most vulnerable population to parasites and pathogenic bacteria," said William Marler, managing partner of Seattle-based Marler Clark, who represented twelve of 26 children who became ill with E. coli O157:H7 infections after visiting an Atlanta, Georgia, waterpark in 1998.

Ms. Van Putte and their two children became ill with Cryptosporidiosis days after visiting the Sprayground. Symptoms included diarrhea, abdominal cramping, nausea, vomiting, fever, headache, and loss of appetite. The children's illnesses were confirmed as Cryptosporidiosis by the State Health Department.

On August 26, the Democrat & Chronicle reported that the state Health Department will rewrite regulations governing water quality at all sprayparks and will implement them on an emergency basis by November. Paul Nunes, a partner in the Rochester firm Underberg & Kessler, added, "You would think that after the Washington County Fair E. coli outbreak in 1998 there would be higher standards for all water supplies in the State of New York. It's a shame that there had to be another outbreak to make water safety a priority."

Together, Marler Clark and Underberg & Kessler represented 75 victims, several of them children, of the Brook-Lea County Club Salmonella outbreak of 2002. The two firms also represented two Orangeburg, NY girls who became ill with E. coli O157:H7 infections after eating contaminated ground beef from BJ's Wholesale Club in 2002. For more information on Cryptosporidium, see www.CryptosporidiumBlog.com.

Contact Suzanne Schreck
1-800-884-9840 Ext. 1879
sschreck@marlerclark.com

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