A mass tort is a civil action involving numerous plaintiffs against one or a few corporate defendants. The tort may involve, for example, personal injuries suffered by numerous plaintiffs as a result of a defective product, or a mass disaster in which there were many injured persons, such as an airplane crash, or exposure of a large group of people to toxic chemicals or pharmaceuticals.
Streator is a city in LaSalle and partially in Livingston counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. The city is situated on the Vermilion River approximately 81 miles (130 km) southwest of Chicago, Illinois in the prairie and farm land of north-central Illinois. According to the 2000 U.S. census the population of Streator was 14,190 people. Streator was named for Dr. Worthy S. Streator, an Ohio industrialist who financed the region's first coal mining operation. It was incorporated as a city in 1868. Streator's early growth was due to its success as a coal producer, a major glass manufacturer and a railroad hub in the midwest. Today Streator's economy is led by heavy-equipment manufacturer Vactor, food manufacturer U.S. Foodservice and glass bottle manufacturer Owens-Illinois. The city is the hometown of Clyde Tombaugh, who discovered the dwarf planet Pluto in 1930,, and George "Honey Boy" Evans, who wrote "In the Good Old Summertime. " Streator hosts annual events including the Roamer Cruise Night and the Heritage Days celebration each July 4th. Streator is governed by a Manager–council style of government. It maintains police and fire departments as well as a public works system. The mayor is Ray Schmitt.