Metro Site wins $31M settlement after lithium-ion battery fire

After a 16-month litigation process, Scott Ledford, owner of the Commerce, Georgia-based waste and recycling company Metro Site Fabricators, has announced his company received a $31 million settlement from SK Battery America Inc., an electric vehicle battery manufacturer that operates a north Georgia factory, after the improper disposal of batteries sparked a devastating fire in his material recovery facility.

Ledford shared his story at C&D World in January, and Waste Today reported on the fire in its March issue. Metro Site lost its entire facility after a fire sparked by lithium-ion batteries. Investigators believe the blaze started after a drop-off of more than 200 batteries, which short-circuited after they came into contact with each other, causing a thermal runaway.

Ledford alleged the company had mishandled the batteries, as Metro Site is not permitted to handle batteries among its recyclables and did not know it had received them. SK Battery, a subsidiary of Korean conglomerate SK Group, did not admit liability as part of its settlement but agreed to pay $20 million in punitive damages and $11 in tort-related claims and damages to Metro Site, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

This was an extremely unique case, Ledford says, because before the fire started his facility had segregated waste received from SK from the rest of the waste in the facility.

“We knew that the waste had come from them, and then we were able to identify the lithium-ion battery pouches as being manufactured from their facility,” Ledford says. “And that’s just rare. Most of these fires that happen in the waste recycling centers and transfer stations … there’s really no way to identify where it came from.”

As part of the litigation process, Ledford pushed for a non-confidentiality agreement so he could discuss his case and help other operators better prepare for fire hazards. Here’s his top advice for waste disposal facility operators.

• Prepare early. For operators doing business with any group that has the potential to deliver anything of a hazardous nature, Ledford suggests hiring an attorney to draft an agreement that covers responsibilities and liabilities. “You need an attorney to draft an agreement between them so that there is no way to back out, there is no walking away, there is no turning their heads to it—these guys are going to be liable for any losses and liable for any damage that’s caused to my facility,” he says.
• Lawyer up. In the case of a lithium-ion battery fire, operators should first ensure that any and all evidence is secure and handled by the proper authorities, and then should quickly hire an attorney who is well-versed in this kind of litigation, Ledford says. He stresses that he talked to his attorney seven days a week, every single day, for 16 months. “When you’re sitting here as a small mom-and-pop operation, and you’re going up against one of these billion-dollar corporations, you’re going to need the attorney that’s prepared for that fight,” Ledford says. “Picking the right one for this is going to mean the difference between you coming out healthy or you coming out with nothing.”

Moving forward, Ledford says he’s planning to be more visible, speaking out at meetings and conventions within the waste industry and also making himself available for anyone who reaches out with a similar experience.

“I don’t care about being front and center,” he says. “I just care about being available for that one guy. If I can help nip something in the bud before it becomes a disaster for him, then that means I’ve made the right choice.”