Local News

by Doug La Rocque
More than 2,500 claims have been filed for one or more of the classes in the Hoosick Falls PFOA settlement. All Claim Forms filed are being processed and verified. This process is expected to take 60-90 days. If there are deficiencies found in any of the Claim Forms that can be corrected with additional information, claimants will be contacted by email or mail. Claimants will not be contacted unless there is a deficiency in their claim. If the claim was filed electronically through the website, an email confirmation with a number assigned beginning with the letters SIK should have been received within minutes thereafter. If someone filed electronically but did not receive such a confirmation email, they should immediately contact Emma Duggan (212- 558-5677; eduggan@weitzlux.com) or Steve Schwarz (585-399-6035; sschwarz@faraci.com) as soon as possible. If the claim was filed by regular mail, no automatic confirmation was sent out. If a claimant that filed by mail wishes to verify that the claim was received and is being processed, they can also contact Emma or Steve for verification. A full, detailed version of the announcement can be found on our website, eastwickpress.com.

Health Study Open House
Running concurrently but totally separate from the lawsuit is a Multi-site PFAS Health Study, being conducted in part by the State University at Albany. This study, as has been previously reported on by The Eastwick Press, involves both residents of Hoosick Falls and Petersburgh. The clinic set up to gather information from participants is located 140 Main Street in Hoosick Falls and will conduct an Open House on Sunday, May 7 from 1 to 4 pm, rain or shine. Those wishing to be part of the study may sign up at that time.

The clinic is part of the first ever national study of the relationship between PFAS (including PFOA) exposures in drinking water and health. More information on the study can be obtained by calling 833-732-7697 or visiting www.albany.edu/sph/pfas.

Per Lead Attorney Steve Schwarz

The Class Action Settlement with defendants Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics, Honeywell and 3M has now been approved by the Court and funded. More than 2,500 claims have been filed for one or more of the classes. All Claim Forms filed are being processed and verified by the General Administrator, KCC. This process is expected to take 60-90 days. If there are deficiencies found in any of the Claim Forms that can be corrected with additional information, KCC will contact claimants by email or mail. Claimants will not be contacted unless there is a deficiency in your claim.  If the claim was filed electronically through the website, an email confirmation with a number assigned beginning with the letters SIK should have been received between minutes thereafter.  If someone filed electronically but  did not receive such a confirmation email, they should immediately contact EMMA DUGGAN (212- 558-5677; eduggan@weitzlux.com) OR STEVE SCHWARZ (585-399-6035; sschwarz@faraci.com) as soon as possible. If the claim was filed by regular mail, no automatic confirmation was sent out.  If a claimant that filed by mail wishes to verify that the claim was received and is being processed, they can also contact Emma or Steve for verification.

The Medical Monitoring Program that will be available to members of the Medical Monitoring Class is being set up.  Medical Monitoring Class members will receive communications from the Court Appointed Medical Monitoring Administrator, Edgar Gentle, III with information on how to make an appointment for your initial entry into the program.  We expect this to happen sometime in the next 90 days.

The Property Damage Class Claim verification for these classes requires documentation that each claimant owned the property at the time the contamination was discovered.  In some cases, multiple claims have been filed for the same property address, and these need to be reconciled to assure that the actual property owner at the time the contamination was discovered receives the benefit.  Once all Claim Forms have been processed and the eligibility of all class members verified, KCC will apportion the $20,700,000 allocated to the Public Water and Private Well Property Damage Classes by multiplying this amount by a fraction with the 2015 Full Market Value as determined by the Town of Hoosick Tax Assessor forming the numerator of the fraction and the sum of all Full Market Values of eligible class member properties forming the denominator.  This calculation determining the amount each Class Member will receive cannot be performed until all Claim Forms are processed and verified.

The Nuisance Damage Class Nuisance Class eligibility requires proof that the class member was the owner or renter of a property with a contaminated private well at the time the contamination was discovered.  Because the law and the settlement require an eligible class member to have a legal interest in the property (ownership or a lease) others living in the home at the time the contamination was discovered are not eligible.  Many people did not understand this requirement and filed claims on behalf of other household members who will not be eligible.  Like the Property Damage Classes, the amount each eligible member of this class will receive cannot be determined until all claims have been processed and verified.

The General Administrator and Class Counsel appreciate that eligible class members are anxious to receive their benefits and also anxious to receive information about when checks will be issued.  The General Administrator, with the assistance of Class Counsel, is moving as expeditiously as possible to complete the claims review process and issue payments to eligible members.