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By Sheena Delazio sdelazio@timesleader.com
Staff Writer
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WILKES-BARRE – Several plaintiffs in a nine-year-old lawsuit in which more than 1,000 plaintiffs claim they were sickened after a gasoline spill in Hazleton will go to trial Wednesday after many delays in the case.

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A benzene leak forced the Tranguch Tire Service in Hazleton to shut down in the 1990s. The Environmental Protection Agency has been on site, working on a plan to clean up the area.

PETE G. WILCOX/TIMES LEADER

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Proposed 2007 plan to settle

BP Amoco: $1,250,000

Shell: $1 million

Hazleton Standard Fuel: $900,000

Fegley Oil and Dunmore Oil: $750,000

Scullin Oil and Penn Central: $400,000

Chemical Leaman (21 personal injury cases): $84,000

Texaco (22 personal injury cases): $75,000

Luzerne County Judge Lewis Wetzel scheduled four plaintiffs and defendant, Exxon Mobil, to proceed to trial, beginning at 9:30 a.m. with jury selection.

Hazleton residents Carol and Dennis Dawley and Clement and Bernadine Marusak were listed for trial in May by Wetzel.

But, if history repeats itself, the plaintiffs could settle before the trial begins.

In November, former judge Joseph Musto scheduled a trial for several other plaintiffs, who ultimately settled for an undetermined amount of money instead of going to trial.

In 2007, according to documents obtained by The Times Leader, several plaintiffs settled their case with defendants, including BP Amoco, Shell and Texaco, among others, who agreed to pay out proposed settlements totaling over $4.4 million.

Those settlements included both personal injury cases and property damage cases, documents state, and were contingent on each plaintiff agreeing to the settlement.

The Dawleys and Marusaks are represented by Locks Law Firm, of Philadelphia, which includes attorneys Jonathan Miller and Michael Leh.

Last week, the attorneys filed court papers that will be presented to possible jurors about their verdict and the two-phase process of the trial.

Miller had previously said he is pleased his clients will finally have their day in court, as it’s been nearly a decade since the beginning of the case.

There have previously been a number of factors delaying the case, including court filings and a large amount of evidence entered into the record.

The attorneys have said the trial could take up a better part of the month, and that plaintiffs will be called to testify at the time of trial.

The original suits date back to 2001, when the plaintiffs alleged that fuel leaks at the former Tranguch Tire and Service Station on Church Street entered the ground, causing residents to fall ill with diseases, including cancer.

The case, commonly called the Laurel Gardens gas spill, involves the Tranguch business, which closed in 1995 after filing for bankruptcy. The building that still remains on the site is in the process of being torn down.

In November, Musto said there are approximately 270 cases still pending, and that each may take up to four to six weeks to complete because there are three phases to each case.

The first phase includes the jury determining whether Exxon Mobil and other defendants are responsible for the spill and contamination.

The second phase determines whether the contamination caused the injuries the plaintiffs allege; while the third would consist of determining the compensation to which the plaintiffs are entitled, including possible punitive damages.