Landmark Court Ruling!

Federal judge orders Honeywell International, Inc. to conduct $400 million clean-up

 

By Hugh M. Carola

 

On Friday, May 16, a landmark environmental justice verdict was rendered by U.S. District Judge Dennis M. Cavanaugh in a 170-page decision. Concluding three years of litigation between Morris Township-based Honeywell International, Inc. and the Jersey City Interfaith Council and Hackensack Riverkeeper, the federal judge ordered the transnational corporation to completely clean its 32-acre property on the Hackensack River. The site, contaminated with hexavalent chromium, is located near the mouth of the river and adjacent to the massive Society Hill condominium complex, where the Rev. Winston Clarke, leader of the Council, resides.

"This is a victory over the forces of evil," said Rev. Clarke, who moved into Society Hill in 1993. "It's a triumph for people who care about pollution, and a rebuke to those politicians who were afraid to take on the polluters responsible." It was he who first retained the Washington D.C.-based law firm of Terris, Pravlik & Milian on behalf of his neighbors and parishioners when the NJ Department of Environmental Protection was unable to force the corporation to clean up the site in the late 1990s.

Hackensack Riverkeeper joined the lawsuit as a plaintiff in 2001 after Capt. Bill was contacted by lead attorney Steven German. “Honeywell’s attorneys argued that our organization did not have standing but fortunately Judge Cavanaugh disagreed,” said the Captain, who added that, “Among other points, our testimony illustrated to the court that Honeywell had unfairly prevented people from exercising their rights to use the river as a recreational resource.”

During the civil trial, the defendants argued that the Hackensack River was essentially not worth worrying about and that Honeywell was responsible for a miniscule amount of the overall problems at the site. The plaintiffs countered that the site posed “an imminent and substantial endangerment” to local residents and workers. When inhaled, ingested or even touched, hexavalent chromium can cause birth defects and other health problems ranging from skin rashes to lung cancer. It is extremely toxic to plants and animals, particularly aquatic life.

Judge Cavanaugh’s historic decision also rejected Honeywell’s contention that capping the site would be sufficient to protect people and the environment from the contamination. Instead, the corporation will be forced to completely remediate the area by removing the affected soil, replacing it with clean fill material and even remove contaminated sediments form the river. It is expected that the clean-up costs will total approximately $400 million. Needless to say, Honeywell will appeal the decision.

“A ground-breaking Clean Water precedent has been set right here in our watershed,” said Capt. Bill who noted that there are about 190 other chromium-contaminated sites in Hudson County alone. “There are plenty more sites that are just ripe with enforcement opportunities and plenty more corporate polluters who will be brought to justice.”