SEATTLE -- The Weyerhaeuser Co. has reached an out-of-court settlement with people suing the firm on behalf of 17 victims of the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens, attorneys in the case said.
The suit charged that the big lumber firm had misrepresented the danger of the volcano and misled its logging employees and others into thinking it was safe to be near the peak in south-central Washington.
Fifty-seven people were killed May 18, 1980, when the mountain erupted. It also obliterated the top 1,300 feet of the mountain, spewed ash clouds that were observed around the world, and leveled more than 200 square miles of timber in surrounding forests.
Ron Franklin, a Houston lawyer representing the plaintiffs, said Wednesday participants in the case have informally agreed to a settlement.
The exact amount of the settlement was not revealed, but sources close to the case said it totaled $225,000, with a little more than half that amount to be paid to Franklin's law firm, which took the case on a contingency basis.
One plaintiff, James Scymanky of Mount Angel, Ore., said he was disappointed with the final amount but said attorneys told him settling the case would be the best strategy.
'I'm not satisfied, but there's not a whole lot I could do about it,' he said. 'They said everbody was pretty much agreed on it.'
The suit was filed against Weyerhaeuser and the state of Washington in 1981. Weyerhaeuser and the state were accused of negligence in allowing people to get too close to the volcano before it erupted.
Matt Clark, an attorney for Weyerhaeuser, said in agreeing to settle the company was not admitting responsibility for any of the deaths and damage suffered by those who sued.
Franklin said his clients would pursue their negligence case against the state.
