Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 22, 1994 TAG: 9407200025
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: BUFFALO, N. Y. LENGTH: Medium
The settlement was reached by attorneys for Occidental and New York, which had sued for nearly $630 million in cleanup costs and other damages at the Niagara Falls neighborhood.
U.S. District Judge John Curtin said he would probably approve the agreement.
``I've been living with this lawsuit for a long time,'' Curtin said. ``I don't believe either side could do any better.''
Occidental's corporate predecessor, Hooker Chemicals & Plastics Corp., buried 22,000 tons of toxic waste at Love Canal from 1942 to 1953. The canal, which was dug in the 1890s for an abandoned hydropower project, became a dump site during World War II.
In the 1950s, a housing development sprang up around Love Canal. During the 1970s and '80s, the neighborhood was evacuated and hundreds of homes were razed after chemicals began leaking into yards and basements.
Lois Gibbs, a Love Canal housewife who led a campaign to have families moved from the neighborhood, said Occidental got off easy.
``I wanted their balance sheet hurt so the stockholders would know the company can't do this anymore, they can't just dump waste,'' Gibbs said. ``I don't think this settlement will affect Occidental's balance sheet.''
Under the agreement, Occidental will also take over monitoring and maintenance of the dump, which has been capped and fenced off. Attorney General G. Oliver Koppell said that would save New York about $25 million in the coming decades.
The state decided to settle the case because it would have dragged on for several more years, Koppell said.
by CNB