NEW ORLEANS – Attorneys for plaintiffs in two mass tort lawsuits regarding toxic fumes and noxious odors from the Jefferson Parish Landfill have filed a revised motion seeking preliminary approval of a proposed $4.5 million settlement.
The motion was filed October 4 in federal court after Judge Susie Morgan had requested it. Class counsel and Jefferson Parish have agreed to the proposed compromise settlement on all claims. The parish has agreed to pay the $4.5 million before February 3, 2025.
The motion says factors favoring settlement included the uncertainty of issues affecting liability, including fault and apportionment, causation, injury, damages and other legal issues.
The parish denies and continues to deny any liability, but the class considers the proposed settlement “fair, reasonable and adequate.”
The parish will pay into the settlement fund, which will be maintained and managed under the supervision and order of the court. The motion says the actual number of persons in the class and who will elect to settle their claims under the agreement will be better established after notification of all potential class members.
On August 9, parties informed Morgan that the parish had reached an agreement with plaintiffs in both lawsuits it faces that claim the JPL has caused health ailments in the surrounding community while also causing residents to lose the enjoyment of their homes.
Litigation started in December 2018 and ultimately turned into a mass tort featuring hundreds of plaintiffs who claim those who designed, operated and maintained the Jefferson Parish Landfill cost them the loss of use and enjoyment of their homes.
Physical injuries alleged include difficulties breathing, nausea, burning eyes, dizziness and lethargy.
Reports said the odors "terrorized" communities in the parish from 2017 to 2019, leading to a state-funded air quality monitoring station. Emissions from the J.P. Landfill contained high levels of hydrogen sulfide from large amounts of hydrated lime.
The plaintiffs had filed a motion to exclude evidence of "other sources" of odors that defendants can point at to limit their own liabilities.
That motion said the defendants are attempting to blame the odors on the River Birch and Highway 90 landfills.
"For its part, the parish hired River Birch to replace Waste Connections as the operator of the Jefferson Parish Landfill, and to fix the myriad problems that existed there," the plaintiffs' motion says.
"In what world would Jefferson Parish have taken this action if River Birch had been the cause of the odors?"
Despite that plea, Morgan turned down the plaintiffs' motion on July 17. She said it improperly would dispose the defendants of their defenses, rather than asking the Court to decide a discrete evidentiary issue.
"Plaintiffs argue evidence related to other sources of odor is irrelevant to defendants' defenses because defendants cannot identify 'even one other source of odors' that they contend caused or contributed to plaintiffs' injuries," she wrote.
"That argument does not touch on the admissibility of evidence at trial based on the risk of unfair prejudice, but rather seeks to use a motion in limine improperly to determine the viability of defendants' defenses, which the court would normally consider on a motion for summary judgment."