Westmoreland County’s largest municipalities are beginning to line up to join the county in a proposed national settlement of lawsuits against drug companies stemming from the ongoing opioid epidemic.

Unity Township, in a special meeting Thursday, was one of the latest to sign on for the proposed $26 billion national settlement.

It would end thousands of government lawsuits against McKesson Corp., Cardinal Health Inc. and AmerisourceBergen Corp., as well as manufacturer Janssen Pharmaceutical Inc. and its parent company, Johnson & Johnson.

If all 11 eligible local municipalities agree to participate, they and the county could net a combined payout of up to $22 million over 18 years. The number of municipalities with 10,000 or more residents that sign on will determine how much of the funding would be available locally. To be determined is how that funding would be spent.

As of Thursday, with an initial Jan. 2 deadline approaching for a decision, Hempfield and Murrysville were among other municipalities that had signed onto the settlement. Murrysville voted in favor of the settlement Dec. 15. Hempfield followed suit on Monday.

“I could envision the funds being used to set up things between the police department and school district, setting up surveillance with police, those sorts of things,” Murrysville Chief Administrator Jim Morrison said.

Hempfield solicitor Scott Avolio expects distribution of the funds could occur in March.

Chairman George Reese said the Hempfield supervisors plan to discuss potential uses of the settlement proceeds at their Jan. 19 meeting.

“It’s one of those deals where we’re going to give some serious thought to that,” said Reese. “We’re not going to rush that decision.”

“The county will work in conjunction, hopefully, with all the municipalities to see what will work best for those uses,” Avolio said. “There will be a designated amount for Hempfield Township. Hempfield Township, itself, may pledge to use those funds in conjunction with other municipalities (or) individually.”

City Clerk Dennis Scarpiniti said New Kensington plans to join the settlement and will vote on the matter Jan. 3.

Mike Turley, North Huntingdon’s acting manager, said he expects the township commissioners will discuss the opioid settlement in a public meeting in January. He said it was unclear if the Jan. 2 deadline pertains to the local municipalities joining in on the settlement.

The three largest U.S. drug distributors this week announced an extension to the deadline, Reuters reported. The new deadline is Jan. 26.

About $10.7 billion of the overall $26 billion depends on how many municipalities and counties participate, according to Reuters.

Commissioner Sean Kertes indicated the county intends to reach out to the participating municipalities to discuss potential uses of the settlement funds. He acknowledged such planning has yet to get underway because of the short timeframe involved in responding to the settlement proposal.

“I think that’s good that we’re going to have a say in the matter,” Unity Supervisor Mike O’Barto said.

O’Barto suggested some of the settlement proceeds might be used to help support the county drug court.

“From what I understand, they are in need of funding,” he said.

Unity Solicitor Gary Falatovich said “drug court-related activities” is among the uses that would be eligible for the settlement funds.

“That is a viable option,” he said. But, he added, “It’s up to the county commissioners ultimately to determine the funds for that (drug court) program.”

The drug court oversees the recovery of up to 60 participants whose struggle with addiction has placed them into the criminal justice system. Participants are monitored by probation staff, recovery specialists and, ultimately, two judges who oversee the program. Since the program’s inception in 2015, more than 50 people have graduated.

Donations from Kertes, Avolio and county Treasurer Jared Squires have been credited with allowing the court to continue a weekend drug testing program for several months after the loss of a state grant.

County Commissioner Doug Chew maintains there is no shortage of money for the drug court this year.

“No funds were needed for drug court for Monday-to-Friday regular work nor for weekend testing in all of 2021,” he said. “In fact, we returned over $52,000 in the main drug court funding due to it not being needed.”

That federal block grant money was shifted to a stormwater project in Youngstown Borough, he said.

Chew said he secured a $5,000 grant, through the Community Foundation of Westmoreland County, to cover a gap in this year’s funding for the weekend drug testing.

Chew has faced criticism for not donating a portion of his salary to the drug court, as he’d pledged during his 2019 campaign for commissioner. He has said he made other charitable donations instead.

As of Oct. 1, there were 97 confirmed drug and alcohol overdose deaths in the county this year, with 23 suspected cases awaiting confirmation, according to a report by Coroner Ken Bacha.

Of those fatal overdoses, New Kensington had the most, nine; followed by Hempfield, Jeannette and Monessen, with eight each; Greensburg, with seven; Latrobe, with six; and Unity and Rostraver, with five each.

Prescription opioids and cocaine contributed to 30 of the deaths, while heroin was involved in 35 of the cases. Fentanyl was the most prominent contributing substance, linked to 81 deaths.

County overdose deaths peaked in 2017, at 193, Bacha reported.

Staff writers Joe Napsha, Tanisha Thomas, Megan Tomasic and Patrick Varine contributed.

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