Opinion ID: 1694475
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: other river residents

Text: O.V. Stringer had been fishing and camping on the Pascagoula River since 1940. Stringer had first noticed a change in the color of the Pascagoula in 1990. He had also noticed that the sandbars were copper or dark tea-colored from where the water had settled on them, and that the water had turned the color of dark, strong tea. He had also noticed in 1987 a decline in the fishing quality of the river. He particularly noticed a scarcity of catfish and a large quantity of dead mussels. Stringer agreed that he was also suing Georgia-Pacific, that members of his family were also dioxin plaintiffs, and that Mr. Deakle, lead counsel for the Fergusons, was his attorney. Kenneth McGuire had come to south Mississippi from Kansas in 1959 for military service and had settled on the Pascagoula. He and his wife had owned a fishing camp on the Pascagoula for twelve years. McGuire noticed a change in the river color in 1985 or 1986. He stated that the river at that time was about the consistency and the color of Tang drink for about three or four weeks and there had been a fish kill. He said that the river had become darker over recent years and had developed a fibrous consistency. There were fewer fish being caught and some of those being caught had open sores. McGuire testified that he was a plaintiff in the dioxin litigation against Georgia-Pacific and that he had a financial interest in the outcome of this case and the litigation in general.