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.
Freeland, originally called Birbeckville after founder Joseph Birkbeck, then South Heberton, is a borough in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, 18 miles (29 km) south of Wilkes-Barre, and 10 miles northeast of Hazleton in an agricultural region. Freeland was officially incorporated as a borough on September 11, 1876. Coal-mining was a chief industry in the late 1800s and early 1900s. At the turn of the century the population numbered 5,254. By 1910 it had increased to 6,197, and in 1940 it peaked at 6,593 residents. At the 2000 census, the population was 3,643. The current mayor is Tim Martin. Freeland is the highest elevated borough in Pennsylvania at 1,943 feet above sea level.