Ciba-Geigy Corp. Proposes Multimillion-Dollar Settlement

Ciba-Geigy Corp. is proposing a multimillion-dollar settlement of a lawsuit filed by people who live or owned property in the Oak Ridge development and claim the company’s waste disposal practices caused contamination that damaged their properties.

Ciba-Geigy, its predecessors and current owners deny the claims, according to the terms of the proposed settlement. The neighbors made no claims in the suit for medical treatment or personal injuries.

Ciba-Geigy operated a dye and epoxy works on the sprawling West Dover site beginning in 1952, and according to company documents, quickly learned chemical contamination of the groundwater was fouling its own production wells and had spread off the site, under the Oak Ridge development, which was served with city water.

Pollution of the site landed it on the federal Superfund list in 1983. Cleanup efforts continue, in the form of treating the contaminated groundwater after it is pumped out of the ground and allowing it to flow back into the ground.

Under the terms of the settlement approved March 9 by Superior Court Judge Jamie D. Happas in Middlesex County, two classes of plaintiffs are recognized: those who still own property in Oak Ridge, and those who owned developed properties prior to March 1, 2000, and sold them between that date and Dec. 31, 2008.

The proposed settlement includes Ciba-Geigy’s agreement to pay up to $3 million in legal fees for the neighbors’ lawyers.

To settle the claims of current Oak Ridge property owners, Ciba-Geigy agreed to create a 15.7-acre open space area on its property along the border with the development and set up a $25,000 landscaping fund for that open space.

It will stretch along Cardinal Drive and along other boundaries of the neighborhood, according to court documents.

The affected area stretches from the Toms River on the east, the Ciba-Geigy property line and the intersection with Oak Ridge Parkway on the north and west, Tanager Drive on the southwest, and the intersection of Tanager Drive, Route 37, and the river on the south.

A $900,000 settlement fund will be set up by Ciba-Geigy for those who had a developed property in Oak Ridge, but sold it during the time covered by the proposed agreement.

Those claims are capped at $4,000 each. If the number of claims is more than the settlement fund, payments will be made on a pro rata basis.

Current property owners can only collect from that settlement fund if they had a qualifying sale in Oak Ridge between March 1, 2000, and Dec. 31, 2008.

Claims by former property owners can be made until April 8, 2012, but they must submit a proof of the claim. Any unpaid balance in that settlement fund reverts to Ciba-Geigy after one year.

Rust Consulting Inc., Minneapolis, Minn. will be the claims administrator. Ciba-Geigy will pay $100,000 for claims administration and the notices required to carry out the settlement.

An incentive fund of $42,500 will be created by Ciba-Geigy with individual payments capped at $10,000.

Anyone can decide not to join the class and take part in the settlement, but they must do so by 4:30 p.m. May 13.

Happas has set a final approval hearing on the settlement for 9 a.m. June 7.

More information is available at info@OakRidgSettlement.com or by calling (877) 874-7576.