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Docket No. 89679-Agenda 21-March 2001.

ZACHARY DONALDSON et al., Appellees, v. CENTRAL 
ILLINOIS PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY et al. (Central Illinois
Public Service Company, Appellant).

Opinion filed February 22, 2002.

JUSTICE FITZGERALD delivered the opinion of the court:

This is a toxic tort case. Plaintiffs are the parents of fourchildren suing, on their own behalf and on behalf of their children,inter alia, Central Illinois Public Service Company (CIPS), theowner of a former manufactured gas plant in Taylorville, Illinois(Site). The plaintiffs alleged that certain acts or omissions byCIPS, and three of its contractors, during the cleanup of the Sitecaused their children to develop neuroblastoma, a rare form ofcancer. The litigation spanned six years and included the exchangeof hundreds of thousand of documents and more than 250depositions of numerous witnesses. After a four-month jury trial,at which 77 witnesses testified, a jury returned a $3.2 millionverdict for plaintiffs against CIPS. The appellate court affirmedthe trial court judgment (313 Ill. App. 3d 1061), and we grantedCIPS's petition for leave to appeal (see 177 Ill. 2d R. 315). For thereasons discussed below, we now affirm the judgment of theappellate court.

BACKGROUND 

In this toxic tort case, plaintiffs allege that exposure to anenvironmental condition caused their children to developneuroblastoma, a peripheral nervous system cancer. In most cases,neuroblastoma develops in young children and infants. Statisticsshow that 9 out of every 1 million children born developneuroblastoma.

Taylorville, located in Christian County, is a town whichrecorded 520 live births in 1988. Statistically, a case ofneuroblastoma occurs one time every 29 years in a community thesize of Taylorville. Between March 1989 and August 1991, duringapproximately a two-year period, three infants and a teenager inTaylorville were diagnosed with neuroblastoma. ZacharyDonaldson was conceived in December 1987 and was born onSeptember 7, 1988. Six months later, in March 1989, Zachary wasdiagnosed with neuroblastoma. At the time of trial, Zachary wasin remission from his illness. Chad Hryhorsysak was conceived inApril 1989 and was born January 12, 1990. Chad was diagnosedwith neuroblastoma six months after his birth, in March 1990. Asa result of his illness, Chad is paralyzed from the waist down.Erika May was conceived in February 1989 and was bornNovember 27, 1989. She was diagnosed with neuroblastoma twomonths later, in January 1990. At the time of trial, she was inremission from her illness. Lastly, Brandon Steele was born onMarch 17, 1978. On August 9, 1991, at age 13, Brandon wasdiagnosed with neuroblastoma. Brandon died on January 19, 1993.

Plaintiffs claim that the statistical excess of neuroblastomacases in Taylorville was caused by their exposure to potentchemical carcinogens released, in part, during the cleanup of theSite. The Donaldsons lived one mile from the Site, theHryhorsysaks lived three miles from the Site, and between 1985and 1989 the Mays lived in several locations near the Site, theclosest one-half mile away and the farthest eight miles away.During his lifetime, Brandon Steele lived two miles from the Site.We now turn to the Site.

Prior to the widespread use of natural gas, the United Statesrelied upon gas produced from fossil fuels, generally coal, togenerate heat and light. In 1892, Taylorville Gas and ElectricCompany constructed a gas plant on the southern edge ofTaylorville. CIPS purchased the Site in 1912 and continued plantoperations until 1932. During this 20-year period, CIPS producedgas at the Site through a commonly used gasification process. Thisprocess produced tar byproducts called coal tar. Coal tar was oftenstored in underground tanks and later sold for use as roofing tar,road oil, or weed killer. In 1939, CIPS decommissioned the Site.This included the destruction and dismantling of above-groundstructures. However, large underground tanks and containers with50,000 gallons of residual coal tar were left buried. CIPS used theSite for storage until its sale in 1961, at which time the 50,000gallons of residual coal tar buried underground was not disclosed.

In 1980, Congress passed the Comprehensive EnvironmentalResponse Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) (42 U.S.C.