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.
Helen is an unincorporated community in Releigh County, West Virginia, United States. West Virginia Route 16 and railroad tracks run right through the community. The Helen mine and coal camp was opened in the 1910's by the East Gulf Coal Company. Many years later, the mine was operated by the Koppers Coal company, which then became the Eastern Gas & Fuel - Coal Division, and even later Eastern Associated Coal Company. Eastern Associated operated the Helen mine into the 1980's. Today, Helen remains a small, unincorporated area in southern West Virginia. There is a Protestant church there.