IN RE New Indy Emissions Litigation

 IN RE New Indy Emissions Litigation

0:21-cv-01480-SAL
0:21-cv-01704-SAL
United States District Court
For the District of South Carolina

Summary

• You may have been mailed a Notice or seen notice in a newspaper which concerns your potential entitlement to recover compensation from a proposed settlement with New-Indy Catawba, LLC (“New-Indy Catawba”), and New-Indy Containerboard, LLC (“New-Indy Containerboard”) for alleged environmental contamination at or emanating from a pulp and paper mill located at 5300 Cureton Ferry Rd, Catawba, SC 29704.  Read this Notice carefully as it concerns your legal rights and contains deadlines for participation.
• An $18,000,000.00 proposed settlement (“Settlement Amount”) has been reached that offers payments to the “Settlement Class” consisting of: all Persons who meet any of the following criteria: (a) during the period from January 31, 2021, until September 11, 2021, owned a single-family home located in whole or part within the Class Settlement Impact Area, which is geographically bounded by the solid blue line on Exhibit A – Class Settlement Impact Area Map; or (b) spouses or children of those who, during the period from January 31, 2021, until September 11, 2021, owned a single-family home located in whole or in part within the Class Settlement Impact Area and resided at that home for at least 30 days between January 31, 2021 until September 11, 2021; or (c) retained the representation of Plaintiffs’ Counsel in connection with alleged emissions from New-Indy on or before April 25, 2024.
• Excluded from the definition of the class are:  (1) Defendants; (2) any entity in which Defendants have a controlling interest; (3) any Person with an ownership interest in Defendants; (4) any current or former officer or director of Defendants; (5) any current or former employee of any Defendant for any potential exposure during their employment by such Defendant; (6) Persons who have entered into separate settlement agreements with any Defendant related to claims similar to those claims made in the Action; and (7) the legal representatives, successors, or assigns of Defendants.
• The total recovery for each Settlement Class Member will depend on how many of those Class Members submit a valid and timely claim, as well as the severity of each Class Member’s injuries and damages.  Each Settlement Class Member who files a valid and timely claim shall be considered to receive a portion of the $18,000,000.00 after a Court-approved deduction of attorneys’ fees and expenses, notice costs, fees and administration costs, and, if applicable, payment of any liens, including any Medicare/Medicaid liens.
• Plaintiffs alleged claims for nuisance and negligence against Defendants relating to alleged environmental contamination at or emanating from a pulp and paper mill located at 5300 Cureton Ferry Rd, Catawba, SC 29704. Specifically, Plaintiffs alleged that Defendants, New-Indy Catawba, LLC, and New-Indy Containerboard, LLC (collectively, “NI” or “Defendants”), engaged in wrongful and negligent conduct in their operation of the New-Indy Catawba paper mill (the “Mill”), causing emissions of hydrogen sulfide (“H2S”), methyl mercaptan, dimethyl disulfide, dimethyl sulfide (collectively, “total reduced sulfur” or “TRS”) and other noxious chemical contaminants to be released from its wastewater treatment facility into the air, resulting in damages. Defendants deny Plaintiffs’ allegations but have chosen to settle the case in order to achieve a final resolution of this matter and resolve the uncertainty associated with litigation.
• In addition to this Class Action Settlement, separate resolutions have been reached in three other cases involving New-Indy Catawba and/or New-Indy Containerboard.  These include: (1) Butler et al. v. New-Indy Catawba, LLC et al., Civil Action No. 0:22-cv-02366-SAL which alleged that the New-Indy defendants failed to obtain a necessary Prevention of Significant Deterioration (“PSD”) permit when the Catawba Mill was converted from making bleach paper to making kraft paper;  (2) Chin et al. v. New-Indy Catawba, LLC et al., Civil Action No. 0:23-cv-00602-SAL brought under the Clean Water Act and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, against both of the New-Indy defendants, and alleges that pollutants, including dioxins and cobalt, have migrated or seeped from the unlined wastewater sludge lagoons into groundwater beneath the Mill and subsequently have been discharged into the Catawba River; and (3) a Motion to Intervene in United States of America v. New Indy Catawba, LLC, Civil Action No. 0:21-cv-02053 SAL seeking to intervene in the lawsuit filed by the USEPA against New-Indy under the Federal Clean Air Act (“CAA”). Resolution of these three matters involve agreements on the part of New-Indy Catawba to engage in certain activities designed to reduce additional emissions of H2S and TRS, as well as preventing migration of dioxin into the Catawba River.  These activities include: the installation of a new steam stripper, which will remove 98% of TRS from foul condensate; restoring and modifying their existing steam stripper as backup capacity; retrofitting the New-Indy Catawba recovery boiler to incinerate the condensed methanol, which will result in more than 98% of TRS from the wastewater treatment system; covering the post-aeration basin; dredging the equalization basin and aerated stabilization basin, and capping two lagoons.  The Parties estimate that the aggregate value of these separate commitments is expected to be at least $85 million for incurred and contracted costs, exclusive of long-term operation and maintenance and contingencies. Further information about these resolutions is set forth below.
• The Court in charge of this case still has to decide whether to approve the Settlement.  If it does, and after any appeals are finally resolved, payments will be made to those who have filed a valid claim and suffered compensable injuries and damages.

Your legal rights are affected whether you act or don’t act. Please read the Notice carefully.

YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS AND OPTIONS IN THIS SETTLEMENT:
REGISTER PROPERLY	You must register to be considered for payment from this Class Action Settlement. You may do so by either (1) visiting the New-Indy Settlement website at www.newindyclassaction.com, and completing the Registration Form online at that site, or (2) mailing the completed Registration Form attached to the mailed Notice as Attachment 2 to the following address: New-Indy Emissions Litigation Settlement Administrator RG/2 Claims Administration LLC P.O. Box 59479 Philadelphia, PA 19102-9479 Phone: (866) 742-4955 Web: www.newindyclassaction.com Email: newindy@rg2claims.com You must complete the Registration Form and submit it by mail postmarked on or before August 14, 2024 or online through the NewIndy Settlement website on or before August 14, 2024, in order to be considered for payment through the Class Action Settlement. Those who fail to register by this date by mail or through the New-Indy Settlement website will NOT be eligible for compensation.
OPT OUT	You can exclude yourself from this settlement if you do not want to participate in this Class Action Settlement. If you meet the Class definition and you wish to opt out of the Settlement Class, you must send a written Request for Exclusion, postmarked on or before August 5, 2024 to the following address: New-Indy Emissions Litigation Settlement Administrator RG/2 Claims Administration LLC P.O. Box 59479 Philadelphia, PA 19102-9479 Phone: (866) 742-4955 Web: www.newindyclassaction.com Email: newindy@rg2claims.com
OBJECT	If you wish to participate in the Class Action Settlement, but wish to object in whole or part to the proposed Settlement, you must do so on or before August 5, 2024. Whether or not you object to the Settlement, you must register if you wish to be considered for compensation from this Settlement should the Settlement be approved. You cannot both request to be excluded and object.
GO TO A HEARING	The Court will hold a hearing on the fairness of the proposed settlement on September 5, 2024 at 10:00 a.m., at the Matthew J. Perry Courthouse, 901 Richland Street, Columbia, SC 29201. At this hearing, you can ask to speak in Court about the fairness of the proposed Class Action Settlement if you have filed a timely objection to the proposed Settlement. You may be represented by an attorney if you choose to attend this hearing; however, you do not need to come to the hearing or speak to be considered for possible compensation. You only need to properly register to be considered for compensation.
DO NOTHING	You do not need to take any action if you do not wish to be excluded from the Settlement Class. However, if you take no action you will receive no benefits from the Class Action Settlement. You will also give up any rights you have to sue New-Indy Catawba, LLC and New-Indy Containerboard, LLC for injuries or damages related to air pollution (See question 7 in the Notice).

• These rights and options—and the deadlines to exercise them—are explained in the Notice.

DO NOT CALL THE COURT OR NEW-INDY OR NEW-INDY’S COUNSEL.