Settlement Reached in RI Mercury Spill Case

Rhode Island residents who claim they were exposed to mercury and sickened when a New England Gas Company building was vandalized in 2004 have reached a settlement with the company, their lawyer said Friday.

Attorney Mark Dana confirmed the confidential agreement that affects 90 residents of Pawtucket.

Dana said some of his clients became ill while all of them were inconvenienced when they had to leave their homes after vandals spilled mercury on company property and at a nearby apartment complex. The symptoms included hair loss, rashes, short-term memory problems and headaches, Dana said. All of them have recovered, he said.

The vandals broke into a building where containers of liquid mercury were stored. The mercury had been removed from home gas regulators, but was left in the building instead of shipped out and recycled. The company's parent company, Texas-based Southern Union, was convicted by a federal jury last fall of storing hazardous waste without a permit.

The settlement, finalized Thursday, involved an undisclosed sum of money and resolves a 2006 lawsuit. The company and Southern Union did not admit liability.

Southern Union spokesman Jonathan Gasthalter declined to comment Friday.

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