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More than 25,000 people from Avoca and other parts of the country have filed claims seeking compensation for health problems allegedly caused by contamination at former Kerr-McGee Corp. operations, a new court filing says.
These claimants are trying to obtain a portion of a pot of money, last valued at $31.76 million, set up through bankruptcy court for victims who did not receive settlements from prior litigation involving Kerr-McGee and related entities.
Past and present local residents have blamed their cancer, respiratory problems, heart conditions, rashes and other medical maladies on carcinogens and chemicals used at the Kerr-McGee wood treatment plant that operated in Avoca for four decades until 1996.
Former Avoca Mayor Jim Haddock, who has become a spokesperson for Avoca victims, welcomed the court filing update, saying he’s received hundreds of inquiries over the past year from claimants seeking answers about what’s happening with the disbursements.
Ohio-based Garretson Resolution Group, which was appointed to oversee the bankruptcy settlement trust, was ordered by federal New York City bankruptcy Judge Michael E. Wiles last month to provide status updates to four Mississippi claimants and publicly post them to the court docket.
According to these recent responses, Garretson said it has received more than 25,000 claim forms and has spent months gathering information from claimants needed to make a determination.
Garretson said it expected to start mailing determination notices bu the end of August — a process that would take weeks due to the volume.
The notices will specify whether claims are approved and the options to proceed if recipients agree or disagree with the decision.
Payment amounts will hinge on the number of claimants, which continues to increase. There were 15,000 claims last July and 19,000 by December. Garretson does not track the claims by geographic location, but Haddock said he was informed a high number stem from the Avoca area.
Judge Wiles said in December that hundreds of prospective claimants without legal counsel had filed responses to the court in recent months. Some argued they were not aware of the Aug. 12, 2009, deadline to file claims and maintained the deadline notice “was not reasonably calculated to reach claimants,” the judge said.
A prior judge had required notices in local newspapers informing potential claimants of the 2009 deadline.
Garretson said payments will be made when the trustee can reasonably estimate how many future tort claims will be allowed by the trust or court.
The trust overseer had asked the bankruptcy court for guidance on processing new claims in June 2016, citing ambiguous wording on the matter.
Garretson had proposed granting claims only for those who were diagnosed with a disease or condition after the August 2009 deadline.
Wiles issued a decision in December allowing claims for exposure or health problem manifestation before 2009 to qualify for a settlement if the victims establish a valid reason for failing to file a timely claim.
Haddock on Monday reiterated his complaint that it’s taking too long to get money in victims’ hands. He estimated 50,000 Avoca-area residents suffered from exposure.
“It’s very disturbing that there’s still no payout. I’m sure the court never expected this to drag out for years,” he said. “It’s a disgrace. It’s a shame.”
Currently the overseer of Luzerne County’s clerk of courts and prothonotary’s offices, Haddock is not involved in a new claim because he was among 4,400 Avoca-area plaintiffs who obtained bankruptcy settlements stemming from prior litigation. That settlement covered only about 32 percent of what the Avoca plaintiffs had claimed in damages, he said.