Nearly 50 Years of Toxic Air Emissions from Sterilization Plant in Memphis, Tennessee
MELVILLE, N.Y.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–#NapoliShkolnik–Napoli Shkolnik, along with Co-Counsel Wampler, Carroll, Wilson & Sanderson, PLLC, filed an Amended Complaint in a pending Class Action lawsuit in the Shelby County, Tennessee State Court on Friday, February 2, 2024, seeking compensation for chronic injuries suffered by the South Memphis community due to exposure to the toxic emissions from local medical device sterilization facility. New to the Amended Complaint is a Medical Monitoring Claim that would set a new precedent under Tennessee law and provide comprehensive cancer screening and other preventative care to thousands in the impacted area.
Since 1979, Sterilization Services of Tennessee—located in a dense residential area of South Memphis—has been emitting dangerous amounts of Ethylene Oxide into the air. Ethylene Oxide has been a known human carcinogen for decades. As a result, the surrounding community has been and continues to be at a vastly increased risk of developing certain cancers (including breast cancer, lymphoma, multiple myeloma, and leukemia), serious fertility issues, and birth injuries, among other devastating health problems.
Sterilization Services of Tennessee’s parent company, Altair Engineering Inc., is a publicly traded multi-national corporation headquartered in Michigan with over 572-million in reported revenue in 2022 alone. Altair is also named as a Defendant in the Amended Complaint, along with Vacudyne, Inc., which has historical ties to Altair and operated the facility in the mid-1980s, according to EPA records—when the facility’s emissions were among the highest recorded, roughly 100x of the current and still dangerous levels.
To quote the Amended Complaint, “The children currently attending these schools [within the toxic plume] and their families must be provided access to medical screening, prevention, and treatment now and likely for the remainder of their lives as a just and necessary remedy to prevent readily avoidable deaths caused by the nearly half-a-century of Defendants poisoning the air of South Memphis.”
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Napoli Shkolnik is an international litigation firm representing persons in class action lawsuits, complex commercial cases, and victims of environmental contamination disasters, aviation accidents, defective prescription drugs and medical devices, asbestos-related illnesses, and other serious personal injury matters.
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Paul J. Napoli
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(516) 639-6909
Nevin Wisnoski
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(919) 374-1971