Granite City Steel Mill, Coke Plant Emissions Class Action Settlement

Residents and property owners in parts of Granite City, Ill. can claim payments from a recent $4.25 million settlement over a local steel mill and coke plant.

Plaintiffs Peggy Keltner, Jerome Johnson, Beverly Johnson and Melinda Duniphan filed this action in November 2014. They alleged they and other Class Members who lived nearby in Granite City had been subject to unacceptable exposure to airborne pollutants emanating from a steel mill run by defendant U.S. Steel and from a coke plant run by defendants SunCoke Energy and Gateway Energy Company.

The plaintiffs claimed that the particulate matter and foul-smelling gases coming from the defendants’ Granite City steel mill and coke plant left a silt-like deposit all over their neighborhood, covering their cars and sometimes entering their homes. They claimed these emissions have caused a decrease in their property values and have deprived them of the full use and enjoyment of their property.

The plaintiffs raised claims against the defendants for temporary nuisance, trespass, and negligence.

The defendants admit no liability under the plaintiffs’ claims, and they believe they have valid defenses to assert. They say they agreed to the class action settlement in the interest of avoiding the time, expense and risk involved in letting the litigation proceed.

It took the parties more than a year to work out the current Granite City class action settlement. Circuit Judge William A. Mudge granted preliminary approval of the settlement in August 2017.

Under terms of the settlement, the defendants have pledged a settlement fund of $4.25 million. After paying class counsel’s attorney fees and court costs, the settlement fund will be distributed among Class Members who make valid and timely claims.

Claimants may submit Claim Forms by mail or through the form on the settlement administrator’s website. In addition to the Claim Form, claimants must submit documentation showing that they owned or occupied property in the geographical area covered by the settlement during the relevant time.

Class Members who would rather exclude themselves from the settlement or object to its terms must do so in writing no later than Nov. 27, 2017.

Who’s Eligible

Class Members eligible to make a claim are persons who owned or occupied property within the geographical settlement class area between Nov. 10, 2009 and Aug. 28, 2017.

The settlement website has a map showing a satellite view of the affected area and a searchable database of affected property addresses. Potential Class Members with questions are encouraged to call the settlement administrator.

Potential Award

Varies.

The settlement provides for seven different tiers of payments that take into account whether the Class Member was a homeowner or a renter. Each property is assigned to one of the seven tiers, as indicated on the settlement administrator’s map.

Individual Class Members’ payments will also be determined in part by when and how long the Class Member owned or occupied the property, the distance between the defendants’ plants and the Class Member’s property, and where the Class Member’s property is located relative to air modeling data.

Class Members who qualify for payments based on occupancy without ownership will not be entitled to compensation for any time during which they lived outside the settlement class area.

Proof of Purchase

Claimants must submit proof that they have owned or occupied property within the settlement class area for any duration between Nov. 10, 2009 and Aug. 28, 2017. Supporting documentation should show the address and the dates of the claimant’s ownership or residence. Such documents could include utility bills, telephone bills, cable bills, voter ID cards, state ID cards, driver’s licenses, deeds, purchase agreements, rental agreements, or other similar documents.

Claim Form

CLICK HERE TO FILE A CLAIM »

Claim Form Deadline

11/27/2017

Case Name

Keltner, et al. v. SunCoke Energy Inc., et al., Case No. 2014-L-1540, in the Circuit Court for the Third Judicial Circuit, Madison County, Illinois

Final Hearing

2/16/2018

Settlement Website

www.KeltnerClassAction.com

Claims Administrator

Keltner Litigation Class Settlement
c/o Analytics Consulting LLC
P.O. Box 2002
Chanhassen, MN 55317-2002
844-798-3651
Claims@KeltnerClassAction.com

Class Counsel

Ted N. Gianaris
Jo Anna Pollock
SIMMONS HANLY CONROY LLC

Defense Counsel

Counsel for SunCoke Energy Inc. and Gateway Energy & Coke Company LLC:
Robert Brager
BEVERIDGE & DIAMOND PC

Counsel for United States Steel Corp.:
David Bays
HEPLER BROOM LLC