A company has agreed to pay more than $400 million to settle claims that it sickened residents living near one of its facilities in Willowbrook.
Sterigenics is a company that uses a cancer-causing gas called ethylene oxide to sterilize medical equipment. The lawsuit was brought by nearly 900 people who say they were exposed to multiple releases of the gas.
Sterigenics denied liability and denied that any emission from the facility posed any safety hazard in this incident. The company settled a similar case brought by 80 Georgia residents last month for $35 million.
In a statement, Sterigenics denied liability for illnesses suffered by the Georgia plaintiffs and declared that emissions from the company’s Atlanta facility have never posed any safety hazard to the surrounding communities.
A company spokesman declared that the company has fought against “years of biased media coverage in the Chicago area.”
