Eight Toledo residents have sued M.C. Tank Transport and its parent, the Kenan Advantage Group, over a chemical release in North Toledo that sent fumes into the air for nearly 48 hours in October, in a lawsuit filed November 3 and announced by the firms Nurenberg, Paris, Heller & McCarthy and Groth & Associates. The case, numbered CI2026-04646 in Lucas County, was filed on behalf of eight individuals, according to the firms’ announcement, with attorneys Jordan Lebovitz, Jeff Heller and Molly Ebraheim named on the filing.
The complaint alleges, in claims that have not been proven in court, that the defendants failed to follow proper safety procedures while transferring glycidyl methacrylate, known as GMA, and that heat applied during the transfer set off a reaction that released the chemical into the air, according to the firms’ announcement. The complaint also alleges the Kenan Advantage Group failed to provide adequate safety oversight, training and procedures despite a history of federal safety citations, according to the announcement.
"For nearly two days, a chemical poured into the air over North Toledo. Families at home, workers on the job, and travelers just passing through all breathed it in, and now they are forced to live with the fear of what this chemical may do to their health years from now," Molly Ebraheim, an attorney with Nurenberg Paris, said in the firm’s November 3 announcement. The plaintiffs reported symptoms including intense skin and eye irritation, nausea, vomiting, headaches and sore throats, especially close to the leak, according to the announcement.
GMA is a highly flammable industrial monomer used in plastics, paints, coatings and adhesives, and the World Health Organization’s cancer research agency classifies it as a probable human carcinogen, according to the firms’ announcement.
The release itself began around 9:30 p.m. on October 20 at the M.C. Tank terminal at 1266 Progress Avenue in North Toledo, , according to EPA records summarized by PCI Magazine. Toledo ordered a one-mile evacuation and a three-mile shelter-in-place, affecting tens of thousands of people including part of Monroe County, Michigan, according to earlier class-action filings summarized in the coverage of the release.
Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz said on October 23, as reported by USA TODAY, that the cause was employee error — a worker "introduced a temperature level to the tank" during the transfer — and that the company had accepted responsibility. "As of late last night, the final contents of the tank vented out and so now the tank is entirely empty," Kapszukiewicz said at an October 23 news conference, as reported by USA TODAY. Fifty-seven people sought hospital treatment for potential-exposure symptoms, all in good condition, Kapszukiewicz said, as reported by USA TODAY.
All evacuation and shelter orders were lifted at noon on October 23, after hazmat re-entry found no detectable hazards, according to the City of Toledo as summarized in coverage of the release. The U.S. EPA ended air monitoring on the night of October 26, reporting that results did not exceed screening levels for GMA or other monitored hazards, and the Ohio EPA took over cleanup oversight on October 27, according to EPA information reported by PCI Magazine. "There’s a lot of unanswered questions. There will of course be an investigation," EPA Region 5 Administrator Anne Vogel said, as reported by USA TODAY.
This is not the first lawsuit over the release, and it is different from the earlier ones. A Hartford filing on October 23, a Keyes class action in Lucas County on October 26 and 27, and a Thiede federal class action on October 28 focused largely on property and class-wide claims, according to the firms and coverage of those filings. The November 3 case is brought for eight named individuals and centers on their personal health claims, according to the Nurenberg and Groth announcement.
What we know — and what we’re still waiting on
What we know: the November 3 filing exists, with its case number, defendants and attorneys confirmed in the filing firms’ announcement; the scale of the October evacuation, the 57 people treated, and the EPA’s decision to end monitoring without screening-level exceedances are confirmed by officials as reported by USA TODAY and PCI Magazine. What we’re still waiting on: any response or answer from M.C. Tank Transport and the Kenan Advantage Group to this complaint, any court scheduling, official investigation findings on the cause, whether any of the separate proposed class actions is certified, and the outcome of Ohio EPA-supervised cleanup.
Balance matters in how the allegations are read. Everything in the November 3 complaint is an allegation, not a court finding, and no ruling has been made in this case. In the earlier suits, the defendants had not responded as of October 26 reporting by 13abc, as summarized in coverage of the filings, and Toledo Fire and Rescue Battalion Chief Blake Molnar said on October 23, as reported by USA TODAY, "At this time, we do feel confident that the site is safe."
What happens next is the court process in Lucas County: the defendants must answer the complaint, and the case will move to scheduling and discovery, where exposure records, safety procedures and medical claims can be tested. Separately, the Ohio EPA-supervised cleanup continues, the federal investigation flagged by the EPA in October remains the authoritative source on cause, and the three earlier proposed class actions move toward certification decisions. No verdict or settlement has been reported in any of the cases.