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Gas Explosion Settlements

New Jersey, 9/29/97

The natural gas explosion that leveled several apartment buildings in the Durham Woods complex occurred 3½ years ago, but hundreds of lawsuits are still unresolved. There were a total of 2,200 lawsuits filed after the blast, and in some cases the tenants and pipeline owner Texas Eastern Transmission Corp. are "far apart" on what they consider a fair settlement, according to Michael Lombardi, the Edison attorney who is chief counsel for about 30 law firms representing tenants. Many of the remaining settlement negotiations should wrap up by year's end, plaintiffs' lawyers said. "We will be down to a handful of cases, maybe only 50 to 75 unsettled cases" by then, Lombardi predicted. Some of the holdouts may eventually go to trial. The natural gas explosion has cost Texas Eastern more than $50 million. The Star-Ledger of Newark reported Sunday that $37.2 million of that covered lawsuit settlements with residents, neighbors and others affected by the disaster, with millions more spent on rebuilding the complex and on emergency aid to victims right after the blast. So far, 1,404 tenants, visitors, neighbors and businesses near Durham Woods have accepted settlements totaling the $37.2 million, according to a review of court records by the Star-Ledger. To expedite negotiations, Texas Eastern did not have to admit liability, under an order by Superior Court Judge C. Judson Hamlin, who is overseeing the litigation in New Brunswick. The court records don't include checks given to residents for shelter, food and clothing immediately after the explosion, nor the $7.5 million Texas Eastern contributed to reconstruction of the eight apartment buildings destroyed when its 36-inch transcontinental pipeline ruptured just before midnight on March 23, 1994. The explosion injured more than 100 people, and a 32-year-old woman in another apartment complex died of a heart attack because she couldn't reach emergency workers amid the chaos. The court records show the largest individual settlement, $585,000, is to the estate of that woman, Sandra Snyder, and to her husband. The smallest amount, $750, went to two people who each had vague claims of stress. Most settlements were for $25,000 or less, but about four dozen settlements ranged from $80,000 to $255,000. "These are people who suffered recognizable injuries, whether it be emotional, physical, property damage or wage loss," said Paul Garelick, a lawyer working with Lombardi. Some people lost irreplaceable items such as family photographs and antiques, others with home-based businesses lost all their computer records, and one man who had spent years working on a doctoral degree lost all his research in the fire and had to start over. Other lawyers for victims say those without physical injuries were devastated by emotional trauma. "I don't think any amount of money could compensate me for what I've been through and for what I still go through," said Maryann Williams, who fled for her life with only her purse, coat and some wet towels for protection from the flames. Williams, now 40, suffered a severe back injury while running in the dark amid her panicked neighbors. She would not discuss the amount of the settlement she received. "I would give back all that money if I didn't have to live through what happened," she said. "I thought I was going to die." The blast, about 500 feet from the apartment complex, created a fireball that torched many of the buildings. In July 1996, a state grand jury reported that unauthorized excavation might have critically weakened the pipeline. Once all the settlements are completed, Hamlin will schedule a trial to determine which of 30 defendants may be held responsible. Defendants include Edison Township, the asphalt company at the explosion site, and the apartment complex and its owners. All have denied wrongdoing. Texas Eastern, which declined to discuss the settlements with the newspaper, may be able to recover some of that money from any other defendants found liable.