Milgram
TRENTON, N.J. (Legal Newsline) - New Jersey Attorney General Anne Milgram said Thursday that a recent settlement will help clean up chromium-tainted sites in Hudson County.
PPG Industries will help finance the cleanup at and around a site it owned from 1954-63. Milgram says the company sold waste products containing hexavelent chromium to contractors who lined sewer pipes with them.
"This is a major settlement, and is the culmination of years of intense investigative work and litigation on behalf of our citizens and our environment," Milgram said.
At one time, three of the country's six chromium chemical production plants were located in Hudson County. The lawsuit -- filed in 2005 against PPG, Honeywell International and Occidental Chemical -- alleged toxic chromate waste has lingered throughout the county and has created serious environmental and public health concerns.
The goal of the settlement is to remediate soil and sources of chromium contamination at 14 sites within five years.
Milgram has been successful in getting other companies (like Exxon and the Combe Fill South Landfill ) to pay the costs of other environmental clean-ups.
From Legal Newsline: Reach John O'Brien by e-mail at john@legalnewsline.com.