Last week, Con Ed was hit with its maiden lawsuit over the East Harlem blast. Yesterday, the company confirmed that it will be issuing payments to nearly 90 victims impacted by the explosion, which investigators have confirmed was caused by a gas leak.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Con Ed has already made payments to 87 victims who were injured or lost their homes in the devastating explosion, which claimed the lives of eight and injured dozens of others. Officials declined to reveal the amounts of the payments, but said they were determined on an individual basis.
"We've been working with the city, the Salvation Army, and the Red Cross, and we've been meeting with those affected one-on-one to help them and their families with expenses, while also respecting their privacy," a spokesperson for Con Ed told the paper.
The payouts are likely being made in an effort to preempt future lawsuits, said Douglas H. Wigdor, a lawyer who has handled cases against Con Ed in the past. Regardless of how promptly the payments were made, though, they still weren't quick enough to stop Jose Vargas, a 20-year-old high school student who attended West Side High School near the location of the explosion, from filing a $10 million lawsuit last week.
Vargas was on a bus en route to school when the blast occurred, throwing him violently against its interior. According to his lawyer, Robert Vilensky, Vargas reportedly tore several ligaments and blood vessels, for which he said he'll need physical therapy. He argued that the faulty gas pipeline, which was built in 1887, had no business continuing to operate in this day and age.
"The city knew those lines were more than one hundred years old. Obviously you can't have lines that old in today's infrastructure," Vilensky said.
