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A Judge Orders Company to Pay Love Canal Cost - New York Times http://querymytimesxom/gst/Mlpage.htrnr?res=::940DE4DD163EF9... jfc? fjork Stine? nwomes.com February 24, 1988 A Judge Orders Company to Pay Love Canal Cost AP LEAD: A Federal judge today found the Occidental Chemical Corporation responsible for the multimillion-dollar cost of cleaning up the Love Canal landfill. A Federal judge today found the Occidental Chemical Corporation responsible for the multimillion-dollar cost of cleaning up the Love Canal landfill. In a victory for the New York State and Federal Governments, the judge, John T. Curtin of Federal District Court, granted a partial summary judgment, deciding that Occidental was liable under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980. "It is beyond dispute that O.C.C.'s disposal practices were at least partially responsible for the release, or threatened release, of the chemicals from the Love Canal landfill," he said. The judge ruled that Occidental both produced the toxic wastes and stored them in a way that would eventually result in toxic leakage. A spokesman for Occidental, James Green, said the company would not comment on Judge Curtin's decision until its lawyers had read the 36-page ruling. Liability Left Open The amount of the liability was left open. When the Federal Government filed the Love Canal action in December 1979, it demanded $45 million, but the next year the state sued for $635 million. The eventual figure will depend on actual cleanup costs. The Federal, state and local governments can recover from Occidental the costs of dealing with Love Canal both before and after a Federal environmental liability law was enacted in 1980, Judge Curtin said. The judge said Congress enacted the 1980 law to compel the waste disposal industry "to correct its past mistakes and to provide a solution for the dangers posed by inactive abandoned waste sites." Between 1942 and 1953, the Hooker Chemicals and Plastics Corporation, which became part of the Occidental Chemical Corporation, disposed of at least 21,800 tons of chemical wastes in Love Canal. In 1953, the canal was covered over and houses were built nearby. In 1978, after years of health complaints from residents of the neighborhoods, the state investigated and declared a health emergency. Hundreds of homes were evacuated. Copyright 2007 The New York Times Company j Home [ Privacy Policy | Search | Corrections j XML; j Help | Contact Us j Work for Us | Back to Top 1 Of 1 12/17/2007 7:42 PM jKrt# Ijork fEmes* April 3,1990 Oil Company Agrees to Buy Homes of Those Who Sued It AP LEAD: Conoco said today that it had agreed to buy the homes of 400 families here who sued the company, saying their underground water was contaminated by toxic chemicals from a nearby oil refinery. Conoco said today that it had agreed to buy the homes of 400 families here who sued the company, saying their underground water was contaminated by toxic chemicals from a nearby oil refinery. Under a tentative settlement, the oil company would buy the properties for about $18 million and it would establish an additional $5 million fund. Money from that fund would go, in part, to residents of a larger area of the neighborhood because of their proximity to the underground water problem and the work needed to resolve the problem. The pact appeared to be one of the largest ever made by a private company in a case involving toxic substances. Two comparable cases involved government money: the evacuation of homes built atop tons of chemical waste at Love Canal in Niagara Falls, N.Y., and the virtual abandonment of Times Beach, Mo., a community that was tainted with dioxin. Accord Needs Court Approval The Love Canal buyout involved about $19 million to purchase 232 homes. In Times Beach, about $33 million was spent to buy 393 properties. The settlement with Conoco, a subsidiary of E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company, would require the approval of a Federal judge in Oklahoma City. A hearing is scheduled for June 5. Conoco, which opened for business as the Continental Oil Company here 52 years ago, said the settlement would resolve the lawsuit without either party admitting liability or responsibility for any claims, injuries or damages. Homeowners in the Circle Drive residential area in southwest Ponca City had complained since 1987 that underground water laced with hydrocarbons, particularly benzene, had seeped into their basements and threatened their health. Some residents camped out at the state Capitol in Oklahoma City for weeks in 1988 to get the state to buy their houses. Under the agreement, Conoco said it would pay residents who participate the appraised value of their homes, a premium, a bonus for moving and household disruption and other bonuses and incentives. A spokesman for the compnay said residents would have six months from when the settlement is approved to seek an appraisal. Sludge Seeping From Sidewalks I of 2 12/18/2007 3:09 PM ' vl~w.7 *XV The protesters said heavy rainfall two years earlier had unleashed a tide of toxic, reddish-orange sludge that bubbled up from cracks in sidewalks, and black slime that oozed into their basements. They asserted that their community had suffered an inordinate rate of illness and terminal cancer. Conoco officials said at the time that the sludge was the result of iron ore and that it was not harmful. The State Health Department and the Federal Environmental Protection Agency agreed that there was no health hazard. But residents said they knew of studies showing extremely high levels of benzene, a carcinogen, in groundwater. In this city of 35,000 people, the refinery is a pervasive presence. A meek that runs through the plant used to border a schoolyard, but the school was closed in the late 1970's after dozens of students fainted from the fumes. Copyright 2007 The New York Times Company I Home I Privacy Policy 1 Search I Corrections 1 XML; j Help | Contact Us I Work for Us I Back to Top 2 of 2 12/18/2007 3:09 PM