Judge weighs Modine offer
A settlement offer from the smaller of the two manufacturers named in the McCullom Lake brain cancer class-action lawsuit is in the hands of a federal judge.
U.S. District Court Judge Gene Pratter will rule at a later date whether to approve a $2 million offer by Modine Manufacturing Co. to end its involvement in a class-action lawsuit alleging that pollution from its Ringwood plant contributed in part to an elevated brain cancer risk in McCullom Lake.
Pratter did not rule from the bench of her Philadelphia courtroom Tuesday, after a hearing involving legal counsel for Modine and attorney Aaron Freiwald, who filed the lawsuit in 2006 against Modine and neighboring manufacturer Rohm and Haas.
Freiwald declined comment pending a ruling, and neither Modine’s spokeswoman nor the Racine, Wis.-based company’s attorney could be reached for comment. The company denies any connection between pollution from its Ringwood facility and any illnesses.
“Beyond saying the hearing took place and there will be a court ruling, which I certainly hope will be favorable, I don’t really feel like I’d want to say anything,” Freiwald said.
If Pratter approves the settlement tentatively reached in January, Modine will pay $1.4 million toward establishing a medical monitoring fund for village residents wanting an MRI. Another $100,000 would go to eligible village landowners for property damage relief. The remaining $500,000 would cover court-approved legal fees and the cost of implementing the settlement.
Philadelphia-based Rohm and Haas would be the sole remaining defendant if Pratter approves the settlement. Rohm and Haas is fighting the lawsuits in court, and Pratter will rule later this summer whether the lawsuit against the company can proceed to a civil jury trial.
The lawsuit alleges that a disposal pit on Modine’s property contaminated groundwater with a solvent called trichloroethylene, which also broke down in water and air into vinyl chloride, a recognized carcinogen that the lawsuit claims caused local brain cancers. However, Freiwald recognizes in the settlement that Modine was a minimal contributor to contamination; he alleges that most of the pollution in question came from an 8-acre unlined landfill on Rohm and Haas’ property.
Modine dumped wastes into its pit between 1968 and 1982, according to the lawsuits and research commissioned by the company. It moved into its 4400 W. Ringwood Road location in 1961 and manufactures cooling modules, condensers and oil coolers.
The medical-monitoring class includes anyone who lived in village limits for a cumulative year between Jan. 1, 1968, and Dec. 31, 2002. The property damage class includes anyone who owned property in the village between April 25, 2006, and Jan. 18, 2008. Eligible residents have until 30 days after Pratter approves the settlement to apply.
Modine settled with 23 individual plaintiffs in Pennsylvania state court for an undisclosed amount. Ten of the lawsuits are on behalf of former village residents who have died – three have died of brain cancer since December.