ARKEMA SETTLEMENT ADMINISTRATOR UPDATE
The Settlement was approved June 6, 2024, and the Approval Order is posted on this website in the Pleadings and Important Documents Tab.
The Settlement became effective July 7, 2024, and the Defendants have funded the Settlement.
Following a Claim Form mail out to the Class Members, and sign-up town meetings at the Crosby VA Hall in October and November, 2024, between 500 and 600 properties in the Class Area have signed up to be tested for dioxin contamination.
We are compiling a master list of the signed-up properties and are plotting them on a GPS map.
We will provide the results to the 3 dioxin testing bidders to obtain their best and final offers.
We plan to select the dioxin testing company in January 2025, with testing to begin shortly thereafter.
For more information regarding the Settlement, and for a copy of the Claim form and FAQs regarding the Property Remediation Program, please click on the following link:
If you have any questions, please email us at settlement@crosbyharveysettlement.com.
Ed Gentle
Settlement Administrator
NOTICE OF CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENT
To all residents and real property owners at any
time since August 30, 2017, located within a 7-mile
radius of the Crosby Arkema Inc. Chemical Plant.
A proposed class action settlement has been reached with Arkema Inc. (“Defendant”), regarding fires that occurred at its facility located at 18000 Crosby Eastgate Rd., Crosby, Texas 77532, during Hurricane Harvey in late August and early September 2017. The settlement resolves a lawsuit entitled Wheeler, et al. v. Arkema Inc., Case No. 4:17-cv-2960 (the “Lawsuit”), United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas (the “Court”). The Court authorized this notice.
See Pleadings and Important Documents tab to see a more detailed Class Notice of the terms of the settlement, answers to frequently asked questions, and other information about the Lawsuit.
If you are a member of the Class and currently own real property located within a 7-mile radius of the Crosby Arkema Inc. Chemical Plant, you will be eligible to have your real property tested for dioxin compounds, if you so request. Depending on the results, you may be eligible to have dioxin compounds removed from your real property. Additionally, all Class Members will have the opportunity to participate in a study that will track the potential for future development of certain diseases in the community. The settlement makes more than $20 million available for property testing removal, and an additional $1.7 million for the disease study.
You have the right to object to the settlement. Your objection must be received by April 22, 2024. For details on how to object, visit the settlement website at crosbyharveysettlement.com.
The Court will hold a final approval hearing on June 6, 2024, at 10 a.m. to consider whether to approve the settlement. Class Counsel will ask the Court to award them $8,500,000 in Attorneys’ Fees, as well as lawsuit expenses, and an incentive award to the individuals who started the Lawsuit. These funds are in addition to the amounts available for property testing and remediation and the disease study. You may appear at the hearing, but you do not have to.
All available information regarding the property characterization, remediation, and health study that currently exists is available in the Settlement Agreement and Long Form notice, which are available on this Settlement Website. However, this Settlement is not yet finalized. The Final Approval Hearing will be held on June 6, 2024. As such, work regarding the property characterization, remediation, and health study cannot yet begin. When additional information becomes available, it will be posted to this Settlement Website. Please check this Settlement Website periodically or contact the Settlement Administrator or Class Counsel for updates.