Sterigenics says it will pay $408M to settle lawsuits

Sterigenics will pay $408 million to settle more than 870 lawsuits alleging that its Willowbrook facility exposed residents to ethylene oxide gas and caused illnesses, the company announced Monday.

Under the terms of the agreement, the company will pay to settle the claims "subject to substantially all of the plaintiffs providing opt-in consents to their individual settlement allocations and dismissing their claims with prejudice," Sotera Health, the parent company of Sterigenics, said in a statement.

The settlements are "not to be construed as an admission of any liability or that emissions from the Willowbrook facilities ever posed any safety hazard to the surrounding communities," the statement said. "Sterigenics maintains that its Willowbrook operations did not pose a safety risk to the community in which it operated."

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