Articles

Property Contamination

$17.5 MILLION SETTLEMENT FOR BERGEN COUNTY CONTAMINATION

Stepan Chemical Company, whose property is Maywood is undergoing a massive federal superfund clean-up, set aside $17.5 Million of October of 1999, after its executives agreed to pay off hundreds of present and prior homeowners to settle their claims.

The deal resolved what was shaping up to be a three month court battle in which the Plaintiffs were prepared to argue to a jury that Stepan and its predecessor, Maywood Chemical Works, were responsible for environmental contamination that led to at least 43 deaths.

Residents also claimed that they suffered personal injury, loss of their quality of life, a diminution  in the he value of their properties and emotional distress after learning that they could face potentially catastrophic illnesses after years of exposure to contamination like mercury and thorium.

The lawsuit against Stepan was filed two months after the September 1997 release of a State Department of Health and Senior Services study on the incidences of cancer during the last 20 years in the neighborhood near the site. The lawsuit was brought by a litigation team comprised of attorneys for three law firms, with Norm Hobbie serving as lead trial counsel and Jackie DeCarlo serving as associate trial counsel. The case was resolved in two years.