UTICA, N.Y. (Legal Newsline) – An independent environmental response fund and its trustee allege several entities are liable for cleanup costs of an area in New York.
Revitalizing Auto Communities Environmental Response Trust and RACER Properties LLC filed a complaint on Oct. 26 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York against National Grid USA, Niagara Mohawk Power Corp., et al. citing the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act.
According to the complaint, the suit is to address alleged contamination in and around a 30-square-mile area of the Ley Creek watershed in Onondaga County, New York. The suit states the defendants or their predecessors or successors operated properties in the watershed that released contaminants, including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and other substances deemed to be hazardous by the state of New York and by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and petroleum and petroleum-based hydrocarbons.
The plaintiffs allege they have been damaged by incurring response costs for the contamination and believe it will cost between $60 million to $93 million to remediate the area.
The plaintiffs allege the defendants are liable under CERCLA for all response costs they incur.
The plaintiffs request a trial by jury and seek judgment against defendants for damages, declaratory relief, interest, attorneys’ fees, experts’ fees and other costs and expenses and further relief as the court deems just. They are represented by Alan J. Knauf, Linda R. Shaw and Jonathan Tantillo of Knauf Shaw LLP in Rochester, New York.
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York case number 5:18-cv-01267