The Gopher Resource lawsuit began in June 2021, when former Tampa plant supervisor Ko Brown and his wife Tomika sued the company on behalf of their son, alleging that lead dust carried home from the smelter had poisoned him. The case grew into a class action covering workers, their families, and neighbors of Gopher Resource’s plants in Tampa, Florida, and Eagan, Minnesota. A Florida judge granted final approval to a $30 million settlement on March 24, 2025. Separately, 42 individual worker lawsuits remain active, and new air quality violations surfaced at the Eagan facility in 2025.
What the Lawsuit Alleged
The case, Brown, et al. v. Gopher Resource, LLC, et al. (Case No. 21-CA-004494), was filed in the Circuit Court of the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit of Florida in Hillsborough County. Named defendants were Gopher Resource, LLC (a Minnesota LLC), EnviroFocus Technologies, LLC (the Florida entity operating the Tampa plant), and ECP Gopher Holdings, LP (a Delaware limited partnership based in New Jersey).1Gopher Settlement. Class Action Settlement Agreement
The plaintiffs alleged that the defendants failed to provide a safe workplace and failed to control toxic emissions, resulting in injuries from exposure to lead, cadmium, arsenic, and sulfur dioxide.2Gopher Settlement. Long-Form Notice of Settlement Ko Brown said he had unknowingly carried lead dust home from the plant on his clothes, causing his son Colin lead exposure, disability, and emotional distress. The Browns were represented by civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump along with co-counsel from Napoli Shkolnik PLLC and Swope, Rodante P.A. At the June 2, 2021, announcement, Crump said his team was already representing more than 100 workers and expected more suits to follow.3Tampa Bay Times. Former Worker Sues Tampa Lead Smelter Over Sons Exposure
The defendants did not admit fault in the settlement.
Who the Settlement Covers
The settlement class was defined broadly, covering three overlapping groups tied to either the Tampa or Eagan plant:
- Employees or contractors who worked at the Tampa plant between January 1, 2006, and July 24, 2024, or at the Eagan plant between January 1, 2000, and July 24, 2024.
- Spouses, partners, minor children, or other family members who lived with a qualifying worker during their employment or within four years after it ended.
- Anyone who lived, worked, or attended school within one mile of either facility’s smokestack during the same timeframes.
The claim filing deadline was October 31, 2024. Claims could be submitted online through GopherSettlement.com or by mail to the settlement administrator, Angeion Group, in Philadelphia.4Gopher Settlement. Gopher Settlement Homepage
How the $30 Million Is Structured
The settlement totals $30 million, paid in two tranches: a $15 million initial guarantee and a $15 million final guarantee, both deposited into a cash fund.1Gopher Settlement. Class Action Settlement Agreement Individual awards will be determined by a Special Master rather than by a fixed formula.
Class counsel attorneys’ fees were approved at 8.3% of the final cash fund, plus $498,409.57 in expenses. Claimants who hired their own private counsel may be charged up to 25% of their recovery. Each named plaintiff received a $10,000 incentive award. The Huntington Bank was named trustee for a Special Needs Trust and a Settlement Preservation Trust set up under the agreement.5Gopher Settlement. Final Approval Order
Final Approval and Ongoing Oversight
Judge Christopher C. Nash of the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit granted final approval on March 24, 2025, finding the settlement “fair, reasonable and adequate.” The court noted the response was “overwhelmingly positive,” with no objections filed and only six people opting out. Judge Nash permanently certified a settlement class and three subclasses (Worker and Family Member, Eagan Neighbors, and Tampa Neighbors) and dismissed the related litigation with prejudice.5Gopher Settlement. Final Approval Order
The Honorable Wayne R. Andersen, a retired federal judge, was appointed to two roles under the settlement. As Special Master, he determines individual monetary awards. As Monitor, he oversees ongoing operations at both facilities.5Gopher Settlement. Final Approval Order
Individual Worker Lawsuits Still Pending
The class settlement did not resolve every case. Attorney Michael J. Fuller of Farrell & Fuller Law represents 42 individual workers in separate lawsuits against Gopher Resource alleging lead exposure caused by company negligence. Those cases remain ongoing based on the most recent public information.6Farrell & Fuller Law. Gopher Resource Litigation in Tampa
The Conditions That Drove the Case
The lawsuit followed an 18-month Tampa Bay Times investigation published in 2021 as “Poisoned.” Reporters interviewed more than 100 workers and reviewed over 100,000 pages of documents, including medical records and internal emails.7Tampa Bay Times. Tampa Bay Times Wins Prestigious Polk Award for Poisoned Series
Inside the Tampa plant, airborne lead levels regularly reached hundreds of times the federal limit of 50 micrograms per cubic meter. In 2014, one monitoring point recorded over 200,000 micrograms. Between 2014 and 2018, eight of every ten workers had blood-lead levels associated with increased risks of high blood pressure, kidney dysfunction, and cardiovascular disease. At least 14 current or former workers had heart attacks or strokes in the five years before the series ran.8Tampa Bay Times. Gopher Workers
Reporters found that ventilation features had been disabled and that respirators issued to workers were inadequate for the concentrations they actually faced. A company-contracted physician was accused of clearing workers for duty without telling them their health problems were tied to lead exposure. The company also offered bonuses tied to low blood-lead results, which investigators said pushed workers toward risky treatments, including chelation therapy, to lower their numbers artificially.8Tampa Bay Times. Gopher Workers
Lead traveled home too. The series documented lead poisoning in at least 16 children of employees. Soil samples taken within 1,500 feet of the Tampa plant showed lead concentrations above federal thresholds for children. The factory also discharged polluted water into the Palm River and shipped hazardous waste to a residential-area landfill in Polk County on at least two occasions.9Journalists Resource. Lead Air Recycling Factory Investigation Tampa Bay Times
Regulators followed. OSHA opened an inspection of the Tampa plant on April 5, 2021, and on September 30, 2021, issued 44 citations against EnviroFocus Technologies with $319,876 in proposed penalties. One citation was classified as “willful” for exposing workers to lead and failing to provide adequate respirators, carrying a proposed fine of $136,532. Thirty-four others were classified as “serious,” covering cadmium and arsenic overexposures and prohibited cleaning methods like sweeping and shoveling lead dust.10OSHA. News Release – Gopher Resource Citations The Hillsborough County Environmental Protection Commission proposed a separate $518,173 fine after finding more than two dozen possible violations, including unapproved changes to ventilation systems and removal of exhaust hoods.11PBS. Tampa Lead Factory $518,000 Fine Environmental Violations
New Eagan Air Quality Violations in 2025
The Eagan, Minnesota, plant has operated at 685 Yankee Doodle Road since 1946.12Gopher Resource. Company Overview While the Florida settlement was being finalized, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency monitors picked up lead levels above the federal National Ambient Air Quality Standard of 0.15 micrograms per cubic meter for three straight months. The three-month rolling averages were 0.19 in January 2025, 0.21 in February, and 0.23 in March. The MPCA traced the problem to malfunctioning equipment that let lead enter a section of the refining system where it was not supposed to be, and issued a notice of violation on May 29, 2025. Lead levels returned to compliance in April 2025 after the faulty equipment was shut down.13MPCA. Eagan Gopher Resource
The elevated emissions affected an area roughly three-quarters of a mile from the plant, home to about 700 residents, with most deposition within 500 feet of the fenceline.13MPCA. Eagan Gopher Resource The MPCA did not notify Eagan residents until July 2025, saying federal Clean Air Act rules required three months of data to confirm a violation. The EPA countered that federal law does not prohibit sharing data before the rolling calculation is complete.14CBS News Minnesota. Minnesota Pollution Agency Eagan Lead Notification Investigation Minnesota Representative Rick Hansen asked the Office of the Legislative Auditor to review the MPCA’s handling of the episode; Legislative Auditor Judy Randall said her office needed to do additional background work before deciding whether to proceed.15Star Tribune. Second Opinion Needed on How State Handled Lead Pollution at Eagan Battery Recycler
Because of the exceedances, the Eagan area’s status under federal air quality rules reverted to “nonattainment” for lead. Reclassification to “attainment” requires three consecutive years of compliant data, meaning the earliest that could happen is 2029. The MPCA’s investigation remains open, and the agency has said it can review all parts of the facility’s air permit as part of enforcement.13MPCA. Eagan Gopher Resource
The 2025 air violations are separate from an earlier federal action. In 2024, the EPA fined Gopher Resource $44,242 through a consent agreement for failing to promptly notify the National Response Center and the Minnesota State Emergency Response Commission after two lead releases at Eagan in October 2022, one involving about 77 pounds of lead and the other roughly 17 pounds.16EPA. Consent Agreement and Final Order, CERCLA-05-2024-0001
Anyone who filed a class action claim before the October 31, 2024, deadline is now waiting on the Special Master’s individual determinations. Workers who did not join the class and believe they have injury claims should consult counsel about the individual lawsuit track that Farrell & Fuller and other firms have pursued outside the settlement.