Vantage Chemicals settles 400+ more Lake County EtO lawsuits

(Legal Newsline) — A chemical company with a manufacturing plant in north suburban Gurnee has agreed to pay to settle hundreds more lawsuits claiming emissions from its manufacturing process caused people living nearby in Lake County to develop cancer.

On Aug. 4, attorneys representing hundreds of plaintiffs asked a Cook County Circuit Court judge to sign off on the settlement involving more than 400 lawsuits against Vantage Specialty Chemicals Inc.

The plaintiffs were represented by attorneys from the firms of Edelson P.C., of Chicago; Dovel & Luner, of Santa Monica, California; and Stinar Gould Grieco & Hensley, of Chicago.

All of the lawsuits sought to make the company pay for its alleged release of ethylene oxide (EtO) gas into the air over decades of operations in Lake County.

Public versions of documents filed in court in support of the settlement intentionally have redacted, or blacked out, the amount Vantage will pay, with permission from Cook County Judge Kathy Flanag...