BY STACEY SOLIE, STAFF WRITER

SCOTT TWP. — If a motion filed Friday in federal court is approved, several hundred households near Ivy Industrial Park will soon receive a letter offering a chance to settle a class action lawsuit that’s been brewing since 2005.

The suit was filed after two carcinogenic chemicals showed up in over 200 area drinking wells.

The request was filed in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania by attorney Thomas Martin on behalf of Scott Twp. resident James Black, who could not be reached for comment.

“It was long, drawn out negotiation,” said Mr. Martin, who is with the firm Feldman Shepherd Wohlgelernter Tanner Weinstock and Dodig.

“We think this is in the best interest of the community,” he said.

The settlement offers to hook the estimated 470 affected households up to a public water system and to pay $16,000 each to households with contamination over 5 parts per billion and $8,000 to those below.

Many households saw contamination levels above 5 ppb, including that of David Hubble who lives on Carbondale Road and said readings have been above 300 ppb.

“A lot of people have swimming pools. They were swimming in that water, showering in it, absorbing it through their pores,” Mr. Hubble said.

Children and other non-owner residents in affected households can receive payments of $100 each.

Investigators are still trying to pinpoint where the contaminants trichloroethylene (TCE) and tetrachloroethylene, also known as perchloroethylene and tetrachloroethene (PCE) came from and for how long they’ve been seeping into area groundwater, but three Ivy Industrial Park companies — Sandvik, Bostik and Metso Paper USA — are considered potentially responsible, state officials have said.

Efforts to reach attorneys for Sandvik and Bostik were unsuccessful. The letter indicates Metso is not part of the settlement.

The money could be used to offset future water bills, the letter says, or to pay for medical monitoring for residents concerned about the effects of exposure and to compensate property owners for reduced property values.

However, recipients can “do anything with the money you wish,” said a copy of the letter obtained by The Times-Tribune.

Accepting the settlement would not bar someone from filing a future lawsuit related to health problems that have yet to materialize, the letter says.

Those who choose not to participate are required to send back a form that will be included in the mailing within 60 days, or risk forfeiting the right to file their own lawsuit.

Those eligible include property owners who used their drinking water wells after Aug. 1, 2005 or residents who lived at an affected property for at least one year before a water treatment system was installed, the letter says.

The owner of Doc’s Deli, John Daugherty said he received a previous letter telling him about the settlement offer and that his attorney advised him to turn it down.

“It’s not enough,” he said.

The contamination caused his business to be shut down until safe water could be secured. The $16,000 wouldn’t come close to covering the business he lost, let alone the cost of his water in the future, he said.

“I don’t think I should have to pay for my water ever again,” Mr. Daugherty said.

He is represented by the attorney David Gramelski at area firm Wright and Reihner, as are several hundred other affected parties who have a multi-plaintiff lawsuit pending.

That lawsuit is in the discovery phase and depositions of company executives are scheduled for February, Mr. Gramelski said.

While the designs for the public water system are almost finished, the timeline for moving ahead will be affected by how many people agree to sign onto the lawsuit, DEP spokesman Mark Carmon said.

However, residents can also opt to hookup to the public system at no cost without accepting the settlement, the letter says.