© 2024
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
An update has been released for the Android version of the WAMC App that addresses performance issues. Please check the Google Play Store to download and update to the latest version.

GE Settles With Saratoga County Municipalities

Flickr/Andrew Magill www.emergencydentistsusa.com/price

General Electric has reportedly agreed to pay close to $8 million to settle a portion of five-year-old lawsuit brought by Saratoga County municipalities related to the company’s dredging on the Hudson River.

According to a report in the Albany Times Union, General Electric has agreed to pay $7.95 million to settle a legal battle brought on by the Town of Waterford and Waterford’s water commissioners, as well as the communities of Stillwater and Halfmoon, and the Saratoga County Water Authority.

“Jack” Lawler, Waterford Town Supervisor and Chair of the Saratoga County Water Authority, said the plaintiffs sought reimbursement related to various damages sustained through GE’s PCB removal dredging as mandated from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. General Electric released the believed-to-be cancer-causing chemicals into the Hudson from its capacitor manufacturing operation in Fort Edward until the 1970s.

“The damages that we incurred were a combination of several features, primarily increased operating cost,” said Lawler.

Due to the dredging on the Hudson, Stillwater and Waterford were required to shut down or move their water supplies from the river. The Saratoga County Water Authority reportedly spent $27 million to move its water supply intake away from the PCB-contaminated area.

According to settlement documents obtained by the Times Union,  “GE has denied, and continues to deny, any liability, wrongdoing or responsibility for the claims asserted in the litigation and believes that the claims are without merit and that such claims are barred in whole or in part."

Lawler said the settlement accepted by Stillwater and the Waterford Water Commissioners is reasonable.

“We do think the settlement is reasonable. The Waterford Water Commissioners – the gross settlement was approximately $1.4 million dollars. We again think this was a reasonable settlement for all the parties involved.”

However, the legal battle is not entirely settled. Halfmoon is fighting its own lawsuit against General Electric, and the Saratoga County Water Authority has not settled its portion of the original lawsuit.

Lawler said the Water Authority is prepared to take the case further.

“We have fought this battle for five years, we think we have a very strong case, and we’re more than willing to go to trial. We would prefer to get a fair settlement, but if that’s not going to be forthcoming, then, yes, we will take this case to trial,” said Lawler.

A representative from Behan Communications, which handles p.r. for General Electric, did not return a call for comment Thursday morning. In discussing the settlements accepted by the Town and Village of Stillwater and Waterford, spokesman Mark Behan told the Times Union, "All the parties agreed that the settlement that we came to was a fair and reasonable resolution to what was becoming protracted litigation."

General Electric is also working with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to develop plans to clean PCBs from the Housatonic River in the Berkshires and Connecticut. In June, the EPA released its “Rest of River” cleanup plan in June.

Lucas Willard is a reporter and host at WAMC Northeast Public Radio, which he joined in 2011.
Related Content