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.
Portage is a borough within Portage Township in Cambria County, Pennsylvania, 7 miles (11 km) southeast of Ebensburg and 16 miles (26 km) west-southwest of Altoona. It is part of the Johnstown, Pennsylvania Metropolitan Statistical Area. Coal mining was the lifeblood of Portage. In 1900, 816 people lived there, and in 1910, there were 2,954 residents. The population was 2,837 at the 2000 census.