Greenwire: About 350 residents of Pompton Lakes, N.J., have begun filing lawsuits against E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co., seeking cleanup of water contamination caused by a munitions plant that operated in the city between 1902 and 1994.
The first lawsuits, filed yesterday in New Jersey’s Passaic County Superior Court, also name as a defendant Oakland, N.J.-based Royle Systems Group LLC, which bought part of DuPont’s property in 1976.
Each lawsuit will be filed individually, according to New York-based Weitz & Luxenberg PC, which is representing the plaintiffs.
“This is an enduring toxic legacy that spans decades,” said Lem Srolovic, an attorney at the firm, in a statement. “These corporations first mishandled and improperly disposed of dangerous chemicals, then, adding insult to injury, opted out of their responsibility to clean up those wastes.”
About 450 homes have been exposed to groundwater contaminated with potentially carcinogenic industrial solvents such as perchloroethylene, or PCE, and trichloroethylene, or TCE, used at DuPont’s facility, tests have shown. The state’s Department of Environmental Protection found in 2008 that the solvents were entering the basements of the houses in vapor form.
DuPont has agreed to clean up contaminated groundwater and install vents to dissipate the vapor. It is scheduled to submit plans for those efforts to state regulators and U.S. EPA in June. The company declined to comment on the new lawsuits.
“DuPont has not seen the complaints,” said Robert Nelson, a DuPont spokesman. “As a result, we have no response” (D’Aurizio/O’Neill, Bergen [N.J.] Record, March 4). – GN