The judge hearing motions for the final disbursement of Tennessee Chemical Company bankruptcy fund ruled last week he did not have the authority to relax the rule about every affected party getting a personal notice where addresses were available.  Attorney Scott Brown said they were now working toward having a paper notice mailed to all 1450 or so claimants in the case (1200 wage claimants, 250 commercial company claimants).

“Most people and companies will get these in the mail,” Brown said, adding, “No doubt there will be a few people who don’t.”  The notices will announce a final report has been filed with the court. This full report will not be mailed due to its size, as it contains detailed information covering the entire Chapter 7 phase of the case, which began January 1, 1003.The full report is available at the court to anyone who is interested.  That information will be in the notice.

Anyone who wants to object to the report and proposed distributions must do so in writing by December 7.  Any objection made will be ruled on the by the judge at a special hearing on December 10 at 10:00 a.m. at the Bankruptcy Court in Chattanooga. 

“If things go well we believe we can get checks out very shortly after December 10 and will do everything possible to accomplish that, Brown said.

According to Brown, the most frequently asked questions are whether they have to do anything, including come to court, as well as when then will receive, and how much their check will be. Brown said no one needs to go to court unless they want to object.  He said final checks “will go out before Christmas this year if humanly possible.”  Brown said check amounts will be right at 5.17% of the total original allowed claim amount.

“The 2009 distribution was 25% of total claims, so this one will be right at 1/5 of the amount we sent in 2009,” Brown said.  The former employees unfortunately have to have payroll tax deductions so their checks will reflect that and they will get a W-2 early in 2013.

Brown said the TCC case is probably the longest running bankruptcy case in our district’s history, and has to be one of the longest in the entire bankruptcy system. 

According to Brown, the case had an amazing number of legal issues over the years, and has actually paid large amounts to creditors who had liens on assets.  It has also paid income taxes to IRS and the State of Georgia combined of almost $4,000,000 on the income received from the nuclear fuel company and its sale, and paid all its operating loss debts for the period when it was operating under bankruptcy court protection before Boliden bought the plant. He said it will have paid 30% of the unsecured claims and that most bankruptcy cases get either nothing or a single digit percentage payment.

“Finally, personally, I have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know your citizens and appreciate their general good humor and optimism through a very sad, disappointing and threatening chapter in the history of the area,” Brown said.

The court date of December 10 is open if anyone wants to come and oppose what is being done, and the likely amounts to be received, but attendance is not required.