SARATOGA COUNTY WATER AUTHORITY FILES FEDERAL LAWSUIT AGAINST GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY TO RECOVER $27 MILLION DOLLARS IN COSTS NECESSARY TO AVOID PCB POLLUTION OF HUDSON RIVER WATER SUPPLY
The law firm of Dreyer Boyajian LLP announced today that it filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York on behalf of the Saratoga County Water Authority against General Electric Company. The lawsuit seeks to recover in excess of $27 million dollars in costs that the Authority expended to avoid PCBs in the Hudson River.
PCBs were used by General Electric in the manufacturing of industrial capacitors at its Hudson Falls and Fort Edward plants. PCBs are classified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as probable human carcinogens. PCB exposure is also associated with adverse affects on reproductive, endocrine and immunological function, decreased gestational age and reduced birth weight of offspring, interference with neuro-behavioral and cognitive development, and increased incidence of hypertension, diabetes and liver disease.
The lawsuit alleges that the SCWA incurred costs necessitated by constructing its water treatment plant in the Town of Moreau which is upriver of the General Electric plants in Hudson Falls and Fort Edward and the PCB dredging project. The suit follows claims filed in February of 2009 by the Towns and Villages of Stillwater, Waterford, the Town of Halfmoon and the County of Saratoga seeking damages and costs incurred by municipalities related to PCBs in the Hudson River.
For further information, contact Donald Boyajian at (518) 348-4133
