PITTSBURGH – The widow of a maintenance man at a U.S. Steel plant in Clairton alleges a host of defendants exposed her late husband to a variety of hazardous and toxic substances, including benzene, which she maintains caused her husband’s death in 2021 from myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS).
Phyllis Diane Zellers (as Administratrix of the Estate of Dennis Roy Zellers, deceased) of La Belle filed suit in the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas on Nov. 14 versus Aristech Surfaces, LLC (successor in interest to Aristech Chemical Corporation) of Kentucky; Aristech Chemical International Limited (doing business as “Aristech Chemical Corporation”) of Texas; Braskem America, Inc. (formerly known as “Aristech Chemical Corporation”) of Pennsylvania; Beazer East, Inc. (in its own right and as successor to Koppers Company, Inc., and other related companies) of Pittsburgh; Clairton 1314B L.P. of Pennsylvania; Energy Transfer (R&M), LLC (in its own right and as successor to Sunoco, Inc. and successor in interest to Aristech Chemical Corporation) of Pennsylvania; Koppers, Inc. (in its own right, and as successor in interest to, Koppers Company, Inc.) of Pennsylvania; State Street Enterprises, LLC (a wholly-owned subsidiary of Commercial Liability Partners, LLC, in its own right and as successor in interest to Koppers, Inc.) of Florida; Sunoco, Inc. (as successor in interest to Aristech Chemical Corporation) of Pennsylvania and United States Steel Corporation, of Pittsburgh.
“Decedent was born on April 20, 1952 and died on Nov. 29, 2021 at the age of 69 years of myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and complications thereof. From 1970 through 2016, decedent was employed by United States Steel Corporation as a boilermaker/maintenance man at the United States Steel Corporation Clairton Plant. The phrase ‘Clairton Plant’ is hereinafter used to refer to the entire United States Steel Corporation Clairton Plant. This includes but is not limited to the portions at one time owned and/or operated by Aristech Chemical Corporation and/or Koppers, Inc. and/or the Tarben Chemical Division,” the suit says.
“From 1970 through 2016, Decedent performed his job throughout the Clairton Plant. This includes but is not limited to the following areas: Coke Batteries, Boiler Houses, Chemical Facilities, Benzene Plant, Tar Plant, Tarben Plant, Carbon Materials, Chemicals Plant and Keystone Plant, as well as all other areas of the Clairton Plant.”
The suit adds that survival and wrongful death claims are brought within a two-year statute of limitations and on behalf of both the plaintiff and hers and the decedent’s three children.
“During the aforementioned relevant time period, defendants knew that the process of making coke and/or using, obtaining, storing, collecting, processing, distilling and/or refining by-products related to the coke making process, created and released by-products into the work environment of employees at the Clairton Plant, including decedent. During the aforesaid years, defendants deliberately and intentionally failed to disclose, inform and/or warn decedent and other workers of the presence and/or extent of exposures to by-products in their work environment,” the suit states, in part.
“During the years aforesaid, defendants knew or should have known that byproducts are toxic to the hematopoietic system of humans and are a recognized cause of multiple blood disorders including MDS. During the aforesaid years, defendants deliberately and intentionally withheld their knowledge from decedent that by-products at decedent’s workplace are toxic to the hematopoietic system of humans and are a recognized cause of multiple blood disorders, including MDS. During the years aforesaid, decedent’s job required him to work in various areas of the Clairton Plant where he had regular, frequent, and proximate inhalation and dermal exposure to by-products as a result of defendants actions and/or inactions with the coke making process and/or the using, obtaining, storing, collecting, processing, distilling and/or refining of by-products related to the coke making process.”
The suit continues that the defendants, working in concert, “deliberately and intentionally failed to monitor decedent’s inhalation and dermal exposure to by-products that were produced by coke ovens and batteries, as well as emissions from using, obtaining, storing, collecting, processing, distilling and/or refining by-products related to the coke making process” and that “the aforesaid frequent, regular and proximate exposure to by-products was the direct, proximate and legal cause of decedent developing MDS, resulting in his death.”
For multiple counts of negligence, premises liability, strict liability, negligence to others on adjacent property, survival, wrongful death and civil conspiracy, the plaintiff is seeking compensatory damages in an amount in excess of $50,000, and for punitive damages in an amount sufficient to punish defendants and deter defendants and others from future acts of wanton disregard for others’ safety.
The plaintiff is represented by Anthony J. D’Amico and Michael J. D’Amico of D’Amico Law Offices, in Pittsburgh.
The defendants have not yet obtained legal counsel.
Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas case GD-23-013127
From the Pennsylvania Record: Reach Courts Reporter Nicholas Malfitano at nick.malfitano@therecordinc.com