Philly residents are eligible to receive $25 from class-action settlement over Delaware River chemical spill

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Philadelphia residents and businesses are eligible to receive at least $25 from a $2.7 million class-action settlement over last year’s Delaware River chemical spill that led to bottled water advisories.

In March 2023, an estimated 8,000 gallons of a water-based latex finishing solution from the Trinseo Altuglas chemical facility in Bristol, Bucks County, leaked into the river.

The incident, which occurred upstream of the city’s Baxter Drinking Water Treatment Plant, did not impact drinking water.

However, the City of Philadelphia was criticized for its confusing public messaging. After the city issued numerous bottled water advisories, panic buying ensued, leaving some supermarket shelves empty.

The settlement alleges residents suffered financial losses from the purchases and driving to and from grocery stores. Businesses were forced to turn off their tap water and scramble to find other supplies, according to the lawsuit.

“This settlement really relates to economic injuries centered around those recommendations by the city, and that were in the media, to purchase bottled water,” said Michael Twersky of Berger Montague, one of the attorneys who filed the class action lawsuit on behalf of residents.

“This isn’t a situation where something like drinking water was affected … Mostly what people suffered was the need to purchase bottled water, maybe a filter, the economic harms of driving a car, maybe some restaurants suffered a little bit, but we’re not talking about the type of high damages you might see in other cases.”