COBB COUNTY, Ga. — Medical sterilization company Sterigenics moved to settle 79 claims against it through a $35 million payout.
According to a new statement released by Sterigenics Wednesday, the court battle appears to be over.
As announced by Sterigenics, an agreement to settle was reached on Monday.
The agreement is focused on settling 79 ethylene oxide claims against the company by Cobb County residents, which will pay out a collective $35 million with the stipulations that Sterigenics holds no liability, and the plaintiffs’ claims are dismissed with prejudice.
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“Sterigenics and Sotera Health LLC deny any liability and the term sheet explicitly provides that the settlement is not to be construed as an admission of any liability or that emissions from Sterigenics’ Atlanta facility have ever posed any safety hazard to the surrounding communities,” the company said in a statement.
As agreed to, that means the 79 plaintiffs suing the company may not reopen their cases or attempt to appeal the decisions, but will receive a portion of the $35 million from the company.
Channel 2 Action News has been reporting on the lawsuits for more than two years.
Erick Allen, a former state representative who lives about three miles from the plant and is not a plaintiff in the lawsuit, told Channel 2′s Michael Seiden that while the settlement will help families, it won’t fix issues for the county.
“I’m happy for the families and they feel that they’ve gotten what they deserved from this civil case. But the plant is still open, and that means we didn’t get what we ultimately deserve in this area, which is clean air,” Allen said.
As previously reported, residents living within two miles of their Cobb County facility claimed their properties were losing value, and county officials at several points moved to have the facility closed.
While residents, and some state lawmakers from Cobb County, wanted the facility shut down, a judge ruled to keep it open in February. Efforts to close the plant have been underway since at least 2019.
Plaintiffs sued Sterigenics and Sotera Health LLC over its use of ethylene oxide, a chemical said to be cancer-causing according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
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Sterigenics’ statement said the settlement comes before the beginning of a trial in Gwinnett County scheduled for Oct. 23.
“I’m not surprised. I know a court date was coming up and it’s hard to dispute that families have not been impacted,” Allen said.
Allen, currently the chair of the Cobb County Democratic Committee, said he’s seen the emotional and deadly toll the plant’s had on his neighbors.
“I’ve been to funerals. So it has been a very emotional couple of years dealing with this issue of ethylene oxide,” Allen said.
The next 45-60 days will be used to complete the settlement process, contingent on the plaintiffs consenting to their payment allocations, according to Sterigenics.
However, the settlement itself may not be as cut and dry.
“The settlement is subject to 100% of the plaintiffs consenting to their respective settlement payment allocations and to a stay of the trial that was scheduled to begin on October 23, 2023. No guarantee can be made that these conditions will be met,” Sterigenics said.
Should some plaintiffs not agree to the settlement terms, Sterigenics said they have a right to waive the 100% participation requirement, where the settlement would only be binding to those who agree to take the payment and close their cases against the company.
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The company said it is still intent on defending its remaining ethylene oxide cases, including those in Georgia, that are pending in Cobb County court.
“A pool of personal injury cases is scheduled to proceed to a Phase One determination of general causation in October 2024,” Sterigenics’ statement reads.
Cases that proceed past the Phase One portion will head to a Phase Two determination related to specific causation, which is scheduled to begin in August 2025. Any cases that proceed to trial following that phase are expected to begin in September or October 2025.
Property devaluation cases will be in discovery through July 2024, with no trial date currently set.
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