Babcock & Wilcox has settled a 14-year-long lawsuit for $52.5 million for personal injury, wrongful death and property damage to 365 claimants from the Apollo and Parks area.

U.S. District Court Judge Donetta Ambrose, chief judge for the Western District of Pennsylvania, approved the settlement Friday.

The plaintiffs alleged that airborne radioactive emissions from the B&W plants in Apollo and/or Parks, caused cancer, deaths and other illness, as well as property damage.

The properties formerly were owned by Atlantic Richfield Co. and the Nuclear Materials and Equipment Corp. (NUMEC).

The companies operated the two plants in Armstrong County from 1957-86, producing nuclear fuel to power submarines and nuclear reactors, and other nuclear products.

According to court documents, the final agreement and its terms — beyond the settlement figure — are confidential.

Attorneys for the plaintiffs and representatives from B&W did not return calls for comment Saturday. Under the terms of the settlement, both sides have agreed not to comment.

B&W long has maintained that operations from its facilities in Armstrong County did not cause cancer, other illnesses and property damage.

The plaintiffs, though, have alleged the company and its predecessors ran sloppy operations and that its plant released radioactive emissions exceeding federal limits.

Because it was one of the longest running cases in the U.S. District Court of Western Pennsylvania, many of the plaintiffs and their lead attorney, Fred Baron, died while waiting for the case to conclude.

More than 40 percent of the 365 plaintiffs are the estates of people who died before and after the lawsuit was filed.

Paty Ameno, Leechburg environmental activist and plaintiff who contacted Baron to take on the case, was somber when speaking briefly yesterday about the settlement.

"It makes me feel sad that a lot of people who started out are not here -- including my champion and hero Fred Baron," Ameno said. "Fred literally fought on his death bed to make sure that the plaintiffs saw an end to this case."

Baron died of cancer in October. His Dallas firm, Baron and Blue -- which he shared with his wife, Lisa Blue — continued to work on the case.

Ameno yesterday declined to speak on specifics of the case, deferring to her attorneys at Baron and Blue.

Baron told the Valley News Dispatch in July 2007: "The case will never be dropped as long as I'm alive."

He took on the case for Apollo-area residents on a contingency basis. He won a landmark decision in federal court that awarded eight of the 200 plaintiffs $36.7 million in 1998.

Judge Ambrose, however, threw out the verdict and granted a new trail, citing errors in the admission of evidence.

Complicating matters, B&W declared bankruptcy, and the case was put on hold.

After the company emerged from bankruptcy, negotiations continued. Ambrose ordered two trials to examine whether uranium and plutonium caused cancer before there was a third trial addressing the plaintiffs' claims.

The additional trials ordered in 2007 likely would make the legal proceeding last for years to come, Baron said at that time.

After much negotiation, Baron hammered out a settlement with B&W co-defendant Atlantic Richfield for $27.5 million in February 2008.

According to those close to the case, Baron worked on the Apollo lawsuit up until two days before his death.

A court-appointed mediator for the settlement, the Honorable Daniel Weinstein, a retired San Francisco Superior Court judge, characterized the settlement reached Friday as resolving "a substantial litigation risk for very reasonable amounts."

Additional Information:

Timeline

Here's a look at key points in the nuclear contamination lawsuit in the Kiski Valley:

1957-1986: The Nuclear Materials and Equipment Corp and its successors operated two plants in Apollo and later, in Parks, to produce nuclear fuel and other nuclear products for the U.S. government and others.

Early 1990s: Leechburg environmental activist Patty Ameno contacts Bill Silkwood, father of nuclear activist Karen Silkwood, and invites one of her attorneys, union representative Steve Wodka, to Apollo. Wodka said the case was too big for him. He contacts Fred Baron, a Dallas trial lawyer who was ranked as one of the country's top plaintiff lawyers by Forbes magazine in May 2001.

1994: Baron takes on the Apollo radiation case on a contingency basis and files the first complaint against Babcock & Wilcox (B&W) and Atlantic Richfield (ARCO).

1998: A federal jury returned a verdict awarding $36.7 million to eight of 200 plaintiffs.

2000: Federal Judge Donetta Ambrose overturns her decision because of errors in admitting evidence. B&W files for bankruptcy and all legal proceedings for the case are put on hold. A settlement agreement is negotiated as part of the bankruptcy case, but not consummated.

2006: B&W emerges from bankruptcy and the case continues.

2007: Court orders two general trials to determine key facts before any trial covering individual claims occurs. Negotiations continue.

February 2008: ARCO pays $27.5 million to settle the case with claimants. TB&W then sues ARCO for indemnification of claims, losses, expenses and damages related to the case.

April 17, 2009: B&W pays $52.5 million to settle with plaintiffs.

Compiled by Mary Ann Thomas for the Valley News Dispatch

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