Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2010

Apex chemical plant lawsuit settled

Final payout could reach $7.85 million

Residents and business owners who filed claims for damages as a result of an explosion at a hazardous waste warehouse three years ago should begin receiving settlement checks this month.

A federal judge approved the payments last week, seven months after EQ Industrial Services and two other companies agreed to pay up to $7.85 million to settle a class-action lawsuit.

As many as 15,000 residents were forced or encouraged to leave their homes after an EQ warehouse blew up on Oct. 5, 2006. The inferno sent fireballs into the air and a pungent cloud of smoke and chemicals through nearby neighborhoods.

The companies agreed to pay $750 to each household that evacuated following the explosion and up to $2,200 to each business that was forced to close.

A settlement administrator should receive the money this week. Claims payments are expected to then be mailed within seven days and will continue through the end of April, said Robert Zaytoun, one of the lawyers who brought the class-action suit.

About 1,900 of the more than 3,000 eligible households in the evacuation zones had filed claims about a week before an Oct. 20 deadline. Zaytoun said the number likely grew in the final days before the deadline but said he didn't have a final tally.

The settlement includes $2.9 million in plaintiffs' attorney fees and $322,000 in expenses. The town could receive up to $85,000 for equipment and training. The required payments come on top of voluntary ones the company made to the town and to people affected by the evacuation.

Shortly after the explosion, EQ invited people to submit claims for expenses related to the evacuation, such as restaurant meals and hotels, and paid about $500,000. The company paid the town $200,000 to cover its expenses.

In 2007, the state fined EQ for failing to report earlier fires and chemical reactions at its Apex warehouse. The company agreed to pay more than $400,000 in penalties and fees and to give up its permit to operate in Apex.

U.S. District Judge Earl Britt approved a preliminary version of the class-action suit settlement in July and gave his final blessing in October after a hearing. For more information on the settlement, go to apexfiresettlement.com.