Newark Files Lawsuit Against DuPont, Heubach and Cooks

Mayor Ras Baraka announced on Friday that the City of Newark has filed a lawsuit against the DuPont, Heubach and Cooks corporations, demanding cleanup of toxic chemicals and pollutants they allegedly left behind at a former pigment factory in the City’s Ironbound neighborhood.

According to a release, DuPont Co. and others made significant profits at the property, but in the process “seriously contaminated the land and water, risking the health of Newark residents.”

Though only two blocks away from a bustling neighborhood, the property sits empty, and is now a sprawling, derelict, hazardous 14-acre wasteland, stated city officials.

“After 30 years of broken promises, DuPont Co. and the other corporations who polluted this property have done nearly nothing to clean it up… Enough is enough,” stated Baraka.

“We’ve filed suit to force the corporations to thoroughly and expeditiously clean up the serious contamination they left behind, pay Newark the millions of dollars in tax revenues that they deprived the City, and enable us to transform Newark into a safer and healthier City that we can all believe in.”

According to a release, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection ordered DuPont to clean up the site more than 30 years ago. However, three decades later, the corporation has done “nearly nothing to remediate the contamination they created,” which now allegedly poses a “substantial threat” to Newark’s residents and the environment alike.

Contaminants allegedly left behind include carcinogens such as hexavalent chromium, and toxins like lead and arsenic. In some areas, these contaminants reportedly register at levels that are several thousand times higher than legal limits, according to city officials.

Newark attorneys filed a lawsuit in federal court under a federal statute called the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). The City filed suit via RCRA’s “Citizen Suit” provision, which allows any “person” - including government bodies like the City of Newark - to sue alleged polluters.

Newark attorneys also filed a separate lawsuit in state court.

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