ATLANTA — The company that operates a medical equipment sterilizing plant in Smyrna has announced it is settling multiple claims in Georgia, including one that was scheduled to go to trial later this month.
Sterigenics had been the brunt of several lawsuits as communities have scrutinized its use of ethylene oxide. Complaints alleged the company has released the carcinogenic gas putting nearby neighborhoods at risk.
The company announced it will pay $35 million to settle 79 claims in all, and "the settling plaintiffs' claims will be dismissed with prejudice."
In a statement, the company continued to deny any liability, despite paying the settlement.
"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," it said.
The company said it believed a trial "ultimately would have compelled the rejection of the plaintiffs' claims" and pointed to a victory in an Illinois case last year. However, in Georgia, they "concluded that resolving that case together with the other 78 claims being pursued by the same plaintiff's lawyers would be in the best interest of Sterigenics and its stakeholders."
There remain some open lawsuits in Cobb County, which Sterigenics said it "intends to vigorously defend."
The company explained in a note to investors that a pool of personal injury claims that remain outstanding would enter a Phase 1 proceeding in October 2024, a Phase 2 proceeding in August 2025 and any potential trial - if claims survive Phases 1 and 2 - in September/October 2025.
Janet Rau, who lives and works near Sterigenics, said she has worked for the last three years to organize efforts to hold the company accountable.
She says today’s settlement announcement is just a drop in the bucket.
“$35 million divided by 79 especially when facing things like leukemia that may come back, seems like a low sum to me," said Rau.
A separate pool of cases, involving property devaluation claims, is to continue through the discovery process through July 2024 with no trial date yet set.
As for Rau, she said she would have preferred the case to go to trial.
“I wish it had gone to trial so a jury could see what those in the community see. There is criminal negligence if not criminal intent," she said.
It could take anywhere from 45 to 60 days for the settlement process to be completed.
The plant in Smyrna has been under scrutiny for releasing the chemical ethylene oxide into the air for years. Some of the highest readings have been found in Smyrna and Covington (where another company, BD Bard, has also operated a medical sterilization plant accused of releasing the chemical) resulting in a wave of lawsuits as children have fallen ill allegedly because of the gas.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has labeled the gas on its list of chemicals that are carcinogenic.
More than 100 lawsuits were ultimately filed against Sterigenics and BD Bard.
In January court filings for Cobb County residents, attorneys cited the Cobb County Board of Tax Assessors devaluing properties near the Smyrna plant. Appraisers with the county cited the apparent drop in value as partially because of "EPD-identified environment issues" in May 2020, according to tax documents filed within the lawsuits.
Attorneys representing the Cobb County residents alleged county tax assessors devalued properties by 10% in large part because of the embattled Sterigenics plant nearby.