It has the origins of a great American Success Story – in 1886, in the midst of the Second Industrial Revolution, a vast reservoir of oil was found in Lima, Ohio, prompting legendary entrepreneur John D. Rockefeller to hire John Van Dyke to construct an oil refinery right on the spot. German-American chemist Herman Frasch worked with Van Dyke to perfect a method for taking the sulfur out of Lima’s oil to make it more marketable. The results were explosive (figuratively); The ‘Solar Refinery,’ as …
Continue ReadingCategory: Settlements
Is a Settlement of the Ohio Train Derailment Environmental Incident Imminent?
On September 13, plaintiffs in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio action pending against Norfolk Southern arising out of last year’s train derailment and toxic chemical spill in East Palestine filed a motion seeking final approval of a $600 million settlement.
The settlement includes a $162 million attorneys’ fees payment. The residents and others affected by the incident argued that the settlement is reasonable and do not need to wait until remediation is complete to evaluate the costs Northern Southern and …
Continue ReadingPrimary Defendants Broker Settlements of Major PFAS Litigation
Over the last seven days, there have been news reports that major companies embroiled in PFAS litigation — particularly the Aqueous Film Forming Foam (AFFF) MDL in federal court, South Carolina — reached, or are on the cusp of reaching, agreements with plaintiffs to resolve hundreds (and potentially thousands) of disputes concerning PFAS contamination of drinking water supplies owned or operated by various water providers throughout the country.
AFFF is a highly effective firefighting agent used to control and extinguish Class B fuel fires at …
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