TOLEDO, Ohio — An Erie woman has filed a federal class-action lawsuit against M.C. Tank Transport and its parent company over the Oct. 20 chemical release at the company’s North Toledo facility, as residents on both sides of the state line weigh a separate claims process the company opened this week.
The lawsuit was filed Wednesday, Oct. 28, by Kathy Thiede, according to a release from Dubin Law PLLC reported by The Monroe News. It names M.C. Tank Transport, Inc. and its parent, The Kenan Advantage Group, Inc., and seeks compensation for residents inconvenienced by the release of glycidyl methacrylate from the North Toledo plant.
The complaint proposes a class covering people who owned, rented, occupied or lived in residential property within 15 miles of the facility between Oct. 20 and Oct. 23, The Monroe News reported. That is far wider than the three-mile shelter-in-place zone set during the emergency, and the filing says reports tied to the release came from at least 12 miles away.
“The three-mile boundary was established to protect people during an emergency,” Thiede’s lawyer, David Dubin, said in the Dubin Law release, as reported by The Monroe News. “It wasn’t intended to determine how far the chemical release ultimately traveled.” Dubin also said in the release, “We intend to find out why this happened and hold the responsible companies accountable,” according to The Monroe News.
Thiede lives 2.1 miles from the facility and, according to the complaint as reported by The Monroe News, noticed a strong metallic or acidic smell at her home on the evening of Oct. 20 along with unusual cloudy or hazy conditions. The suit seeks compensation for interference with the use and enjoyment of homes, evacuation expenses, cleaning and replacement costs, property damage and other economic losses, the release said. The incident also closed several schools in Monroe County, Michigan, until officials said it was safe, The Monroe News reported.
Separately, M.C. Tank has directed North Toledo residents and businesses who believe they suffered losses to call 888-271-0577 to report claims, according to the company’s Oct. 27 announcement as summarized by the Lake Erie Inquiry. The company’s statement promises serious consideration and review of claims but does not spell out which expenses it will cover, when it will pay, or whether accepting money will require signing a release, the Lake Erie Inquiry reported.
The response phase has also shifted. In its Oct. 27 update, the U.S. EPA said it stopped air monitoring and sampling at 11 p.m. Oct. 26 after reviewing the data with state and local partners, and that the Ohio EPA had taken over oversight of the company’s cleanup that morning, according to the Lake Erie Inquiry’s summary of the EPA updates. The federal agency reported no detections above screening levels in the data it reviewed. The Monroe News reported it contacted M.C. Tank by phone and through its website about the lawsuit and the company did not respond. What happens next is the first court action on the class-action filing, while residents decide whether to pursue the company’s claims line, join the litigation, or both.
Photo: Traveler100, CC BY-SA 3.0