New York News

Hoosick Falls' Property Owners Sue Companies Over PFOA Stigma

WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Published December 23, 2016 at 6:18 AM EST

The village of Hoosick Falls, N.Y., sits along the Hoosick River in eastern New York. Elevated levels of a suspected carcinogen known as PFOA were found in the village's well water, which is now filtered.

The owners of a property on the market in upstate New York have sued two companies blamed for contaminating the village of Hoosick Falls' water supply.

Hoosick Falls Associates claims that the value of their 12-acre property, which houses a Tops grocery store, has been negatively impacted by the PFOA contamination made public last year.

The Times Union of Albany reports the partnership filed a complaint in state Supreme Court in Rensselaer County against Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics and Honeywell.

According to the lawsuit, the market value for the property was $2.1 million in 2015 but that figure has been "substantially diminished, if not rendered altogether valueless."

Saint-Gobain officials have vowed to fight the lawsuit. Honeywell says the lawsuit doesn't affect the company's ongoing obligation to remediation efforts.