September 2023
CARTERET, N.J. – The Lanier Law Firm is pleased to announce that about a thousand Carteret property owners are receiving up to $17,500 each from the $42 million settlement of a 2017 class-action contamination lawsuit.
Plaintiffs in the case live and work near an abandoned waterfront smelting site that operated from 1903 to 1986. The smelter in Carteret, a borough of about 25,000 in Middlesex County, released contaminants such as lead and arsenic during that period.
“The team of lawyers who worked together to represent this neighborhood did an exceptional job and never let up,” said Lanier Law Firm managing attorney Alex Brown. “We are all pleased that we were able to get meaningful compensation for our clients.”
“You know it is typically going to be a long road in these kinds of complex cases,” said Chris Nidel with Nidel & Nace. “This was a six-year process, but seeing the benefits from the class settlement made available to the homeowners makes it all worth it.”
The lawsuit included claims that the defendants either knew or should have known that their polluting actions were a risk to the community and failed to take the proper precautions to mitigate those threats. Attorneys say the compensation won should provide homeowners with the ability to test their yards for the presence of toxic heavy metals, such as lead.
This case is Juan Duarte, et al. v. United States Metals Refining Co., et al., Civil Action No.: 2:17-cv-01624 (ES)(SCM) in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.