Primary plaintiffs Mary Salmon and Jorell Lawrence filed the Arbor Hills Landfill class action lawsuit in 2016. The lead plaintiffs attempted to stop defendant Advanced Disposal Services Arbor Hills Landfill Inc from releasing toxic odors from the Arbor Hills Landfill.
According to court documents, the primary plaintiffs alleged the Arbor Hills Landfill spreads an odor that smells “very strong and gasy” and like a “rotten egg, rotting garbage.” Salmon claimed in the class action lawsuit that the strong foul odor smelled liked “dead animals.” The lead plaintiffs and several of their neighbors filed formal complaints concerning the odor with the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ). The MDEQ responded to the formal complaints by issuing three Notices of Violation from late February to early April of 2016.
Both parties agreed to the class action settlement in September of 2017. Terms of the class action settlement require Arbor Hills Landfill to set up a $750,000 fund to distribute among eligible class members, as well as to the primary plaintiffs as incentive awards for filing the class action lawsuit. Money also goes towards paying court costs and attorney fees. In addition to setting up the settlement fund, Arbor Hills Landfill must also invest $5 million to prevent off-site noxious odors. The defendants have one year to comply with the terms of the class action settlement.
Arbor hills Landfill continues to deny the allegations made in the class action lawsuit. However, the company decided to settle the case to avoid the high costs of litigating the case during a civil trial.
What You Need To Know About The Arbor Hills Landfill Class action settlement
The Arbor Hills Landfill Class action settlement includes eligible class members “who submitted a Data Sheet to class counsel on or before Feb. 1, 2017, or who have owned, rented or resided in any residential property within the Class Area between April 25, 2013 and the present; and who have not affirmatively opted out of the settlement.” Eligible class members have until October 11, 2017 to opt out of the class action settlement or dispute any provision of the agreement. Class counsel stated the court has not determined the potential award for each of the eligible class members. Proof of purchase is not required to receive compensation from Arbor Hills Landfill.
Qualifying class members must submit a valid claim form by October 23, 2017. The judge presiding over the class action settlement case Lawrence and Salmon v. Advanced Disposal Services Arbor Hills Landfill Inc., et al., Case No. 16-005209-NZ, in the Circuit Court for the County of Wayne, Michigan has scheduled the final hearing on October 27, 2017. To learn what transpired at the final hearing, visits the class action settlement website www.LDclassaction.com.
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