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.
Edgewater is a borough located along the Hudson River in Bergen County, New Jersey. Its history has featured the founding of the first colony in Bergen County, contribution to the Revolutionary War, a period as a "sleepy, pastoral little town" with resort hotels in the 1800s; industrialization in the early 19th century and transition to residential community in the late 19th century. As of the 2007 Census estimate, the borough had a population of 9,582. Edgewater was originally formed on December 7, 1894, from portions of Ridgefield Township as the Borough of Undercliff, at the height of the "Boroughitis" phenomenon then sweeping through Bergen County. The name was changed to Edgewater on November 8, 1899.