The Court sent you the Class Notice because you have a right to know about a proposed settlement of a class action lawsuit, and about your options, before the Court decides whether to approve the Settlement. If the Court approves it, and after objections and appeals are resolved, property owners in the Class Area will receive the settlement benefits described in the notice.

The Notice package explains the lawsuit, the Settlement, your legal rights, what benefits are available, who is eligible for them, and how to get them.

The Court in charge of the case is the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey and the case is known as Juan Duarte, et al. v. United States Metals Refining Company, et al., Civil Action No. 2:17-cv-01624. The people who sued are called the Plaintiffs, and the companies they sued, United States Metals Refining Company (USMR), Freeport Minerals Corporation, Freeport-McMoRan Inc., and Amax Realty Development, Inc., are called the Defendants.

This lawsuit arises out of the historic operations of the former USMR Smelter Site located in Carteret, New Jersey. The lawsuit claims that properties in the Class Area have been damaged by the releases of lead, arsenic, and other contaminants from the historic operation of the Smelter Site. The lawsuit also claims that the manner in which Defendants tested and remediated contaminants from the Smelter Site was inadequate and has caused and continues to cause damage to properties in the Class Area. The Defendants deny that they have done anything wrong.

In a class action, one or more people, called Class Representatives (for example, in this case, Juan Duarte and Betsy Duarte), sue on behalf of people who have similar claims. All these people are a “Class” or “Class Members.” One court resolves the issues for all Class Members, except for those who exclude themselves from the Class. Judge Michael Hammer is in charge of this class action settlement.

The Court did not decide in favor of the Plaintiffs or the Defendants. Instead, both sides agreed to a settlement. That way, they avoid the costs and risk of a trial, and the people affected will receive compensation. The Class Representatives and the attorneys think the Settlement is best for Class Members who believe they were injured.

If you received a notice in the mail without requesting it, land records show you may be a current or former owner of residential property covered by this settlement. But you should verify that you are a Class Member according to the definition and map below.

The Court has decided that everyone who fits the following description is a Class Member:

Property Damages Class: All persons who own or owned any Residential Property (as that term is defined by N.J. Admin. Code § 18:12-2.2(b) and includes ‘dwelling house[s] and the lot or parcel of land on which the dwelling house is situated [where the] dwelling is functionally designed for use and enjoyment by not more than four families and includes residential condominiums’) and (ii) vacant lots zoned for residential use in each case located within the geographical boundary defined by the map below (the “Class Area”). The Class Area is generally bounded by Peter J. Sica Industrial Highway to the East, Romanowski Street to the North-East, Cypress Street to the North, Arthur and East Grant Streets to the West, and Middlesex Avenue to the South. The Class includes Residential Properties located on both sides of the boundary streets.

A map of the Class Area is set out below, and a list of properties by address within the Class Area is available here.

The Defendants are United States Metals Refining Company, Freeport Minerals Corporation, Freeport-McMoRan Inc., and Amax Realty Development, Inc.

Yes, you are still included in the Class and are entitled to benefits as long as you own property in the Class Area, even if you do not believe your property was actually damaged.

If you are still not sure whether you are included, you can ask for free help. You can call 1-844-798-0743 and ask for assistance in determining whether you are a member of the Class. You can also find a complete list of addresses in the Class Area here.

If you are a Class Member, the Claim and Release Form is attached to the Notice and available on the Important Documents page.

Yes. If you previously participated in the NJDEP program or other prior environmental testing and remediation work in the vicinity of the USMR Smelter Site, you are still eligible to participate.

In accordance with the Settlement Agreement, USMR must place Forty-Two Million Dollars ($42,000,000) in a court-administered fund to settle this matter. In addition, Defendants have also negotiated a separate proposed settlement with certain property owners outside of the Class Area (the “Settling Individual Homeowners”). In the event that the total aggregate of payments to all Settling Individual Homeowners (which include Settlement Individual Homeowners’ attorneys’ fees and costs) is less than Two Million Dollars ($2,000,000), USMR will also pay the remaining amount to reach a total of $2 million to the court-administered fund for this class settlement.  

The Settlement provides for a monetary payment to the owners of each eligible property. The exact amount of any final payment to the property owners will depend on the Court’s award of attorneys’ fees and expenses, the Court’s award of class representative incentive awards, the costs of settlement administration, and the remaining amount (if any) from the Settling Individual Homeowners payments. The eligible property payment amount will be calculated by the Settlement Administrator once all of these other costs are known. Your fraction of this per property payment will be based on the duration of your ownership during the period January 30, 2017 through March 27, 2023 (the Class Period). However, based on reasonable estimates of the above costs, the Settlement Class Counsel and Defendants estimate that each eligible property will entitle its owner(s) during the Class Period to payment(s) that when added together equal a total of approximately $17,500 per eligible property. To the extent that individual Class Members do not file Claim and Release Forms and participate in the settlement benefits, USMR may be entitled to a reversion of unclaimed settlement funds, but this reversion will not exceed 30% of the amount in the settlement fund after deduction of Class Counsel’s attorneys’ fees, costs and expenses, and payment of approved incentive awards.

In order to be included in the Settlement, you must have owned your property at any time during the period January 30, 2017 through March 27, 2023.

If you owned property during this period, but someone else owned the property either before or after you and also during this time period, payments for your property will be divided among you and the other owner based on how long you each owned the property within the Class Period.

If multiple people own the property at the same time and each of them files a valid Claim and Release Form, the Settlement Administrator will write a single check payable to all co-owners of the property.

If your property may have been damaged as a result of the historical operation of the USMR Smelter, you must send in a Claim and Release Form now. If you do not send in a Claim and Release Form, you will not receive benefits under the Settlement. If you do not exclude yourself, any claims that you may have related to your property in the Class Area arising from the historical operation of the USMR Smelter Site or the environmental cleanup will be forever barred. Therefore, you must send in a Claim and Release Form now if you want compensation through this settlement. There is no procedure to receive payment through this settlement at a later time. If you do not exclude yourself, you will be waiving your right to file any other claim even if you find out later that your property had been damaged as a result of historical operation of the USMR Smelter. See FAQ 15 below.

To qualify for a payment, you must send in a Claim and Release Form and all required documentation by the claim deadline. The deadline to file a claim was June 26, 2023 and has now passed.

The Court will hold a hearing called a “Fairness Hearing” on July 26, 2023 at 2 p.m. eastern time via Zoom to decide whether to approve the Settlement. At that time, you may access the Zoom hearing here with the following information: Meeting ID: 161 287 8055    Passcode: 0139635.

Please see the answers to FAQs 23, 24, and 25 below for the requirements to participate in the hearing. If the Court approves the Settlement, there may be appeals. It’s always uncertain whether these appeals can be resolved, and resolving them can take time, perhaps more than a year. Please be patient.

Unless you exclude yourself, you will remain a member of the Class, and that means that you can’t sue, continue to sue, or be part of any other lawsuit against the Defendants related to the legal issues in this case. It also means that all of the Court’s orders will apply to you and legally bind you. If you sign the Claim and Release Form, you will agree to a “General Release of Claims”, which describes exactly the legal claims that you give up if you get settlement benefits. Even if you do not submit a Claim and Release Form, you will give up these legal claims unless you exclude yourself from the Class (the specific requirements to exclude yourself are described below in answer to FAQ 16).

To exclude yourself from the Settlement, you must have sent a letter by mail saying that you want to be excluded from Juan Duarte, et al. v. United States Metals Refining Company, et al.; Civil Action No. 2:17-cv-01624. United States District Court for the District of New Jersey. The deadline to exclude yourself from the Settlement was June 26, 2023 and has now passed.

No. Unless you excluded yourself, you give up the right to sue the Defendants for the claims that this settlement resolves. You must have excluded yourself from this Class to continue your own lawsuit. The exclusion deadline passed on June 26, 2023.

No. If you excluded yourself, you cannot send in a Claim and Release Form to ask for money. But, you may sue, continue to sue, or be part of a different lawsuit against the Defendants.

The Court has asked Steven J. German and Joel M. Rubenstein of German Rubenstein, LLP; Christopher T. Nidel and Jonathan Nace of Nidel & Nace PLLC; W. Mark Lanier, Richard D. Meadow, Alex Brown, and Christopher L. Gadoury of The Lanier Law Firm, P.C.; and John M. Vlasac, Jr. and Boris Shmaruk of Vlasac & Shmaruk LLC to represent you and other Class Members. Together, the lawyers are called Class Counsel. If you want to be represented by your own lawyer, you may hire one at your own expense.

Class Counsel may ask the Court for attorneys’ fees up to $21,000,000, including costs and expenses reasonably incurred in the Litigation. Additionally, Class Counsel may ask the Court for up to 50% in attorney’s fees, including costs and expenses reasonably incurred in the litigation, from the cash payments to the Class, if any, from the Settling Individual Homeowners payments. These amounts will be paid from the settlement funds described above.

The first $250,000 of costs to provide the notice to the Settlement Class Members and to administer the Settlement will also be paid by USMR. If settlement administration costs exceed $250,000, then the balance will be paid from the settlement fund.

If you’re a Class Member, you could have objected to the Settlement if you don’t like any part of it. The deadline to object to the Settlement was June 26, 2023 and has now passed. 

Objecting is simply telling the Court that you don’t like something about the Settlement. You can object only if you stay in the Class. Excluding yourself is telling the Court that you don’t want to be part of the Class. If you exclude yourself from the Class, you have no basis to object because the case no longer affects you.

The Court will hold a Fairness Hearing at 2 p.m. Eastern Time on July 26, 2023 via Zoom. At that time, you may access the Zoom hearing here with the following information: Meeting ID: 161 287 8055    Passcode: 0139635. At this hearing the Court will consider whether the Settlement is fair, reasonable, and adequate. If there are objections, the Court will consider them. The Court will listen to people who have attended and who have asked to speak at the hearing. If you want to speak at the hearing, follow the requirements described in answer to FAQ 25 below. The Court may also decide how much to pay Class Counsel. After the hearing, the Court will decide whether to approve the Settlement. We do not know how long these decisions will take.

No. Class Counsel will answer questions the Court may have. But, you are welcome to come at your own expense. If you send an objection, you don’t have to come to Court to talk about it. As long as you mailed your written objection on time, the Court will consider it. You may also pay your own lawyer to attend, but it’s not necessary.

You may ask the Court for permission to speak at the Fairness Hearing. To do so, you must send a letter saying that it is your “Notice of Intention to Appear in Juan Duarte, et al. v. United States Metals Refining Company, et al.; Civil Action No. 2:17-cv-01624.” Be sure to include your name, address, telephone number, and your signature. Your Notice of Intention to Appear must be postmarked no later than June 26, 2023 and must be sent to the Court Clerk, Class Counsel, and Defendants’ Counsel at the three addresses listed in FAQ 21. You should also consult the Preliminary Approval Order, which is available on the Important Documents page, for additional requirements related to speaking at the hearing and presenting evidence. You cannot speak at the hearing if you have excluded yourself or you do not or have not owned an eligible property during the Class Period.

If you do nothing at all, you’ll get no money from this settlement. But if you own or have owned an eligible property during the Class Period, unless you exclude yourself, you won’t be able to start a lawsuit, continue a lawsuit, or be part of any other lawsuit against the Defendants about the legal issues in this case, ever again.

The Notice summarizes the proposed settlement. More details are in the Settlement Agreement. You can get a copy of the Settlement Agreement as well as other case documents here.

For more information, please reach out to the Settlement Administrator at the contact information below.