Feds Recover $1.4M In Rye Brook Mercury Dumping Case

RYE BROOK, NY — Three defendants, including DuPont, have agreed to pay $1,412,255 in additional cleanup costs at mercury dumping sites in neighborhoods around the Port Refinery in Rye Brook.

According to a complaint filed Wednesday in White Plains Federal District Court, each of the named defendants arranged for Port Refinery’s treatment and/or disposal of scrap mercury and mercury-containing materials at the site. Port Refinery’s treatment and processing of mercury led to the release of mercury into the environment.

The dumping required two separate cleanup actions by the EPA. The second clean-up caused substantial additional costs at the site due to the need excavate and dispose of more than 9,300 tons of mercury-contaminated soil from the area.

“DuPont, D & D, Oxy, and W.A. Baum contributed to contamination in a residential community by arranging for the treatment or disposal of over 7,000 pounds of toxic mercury, and now each is paying a share of the costs that EPA had to incur to clean up this site," U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said, announcing a consent decree with the defendants in the lawsuit. "This Office will continue to hold responsible parties accountable for their share of the costs at the site.”

The Southern District of New York and Acting Regional Administrator of the EPA Walter Mugdan announced Thursday a civil lawsuit had been simultaneously filed along with the consent decree settling the lawsuit. The consent decree provides for a combined payment of $1,412,255 by the defendants for costs incurred by the EPA.

“EPA is recovering more than $1.4 million that the Agency spent to clean up mercury pollution released in the Village of Rye Brook, and that is good news for taxpayers as we are holding the polluter responsible for the cost," Mugdan said. "The funds can be put back into the Superfund to assist with cleanup of other sites. This case shows that EPA can take immediate action to protect people while still holding polluters responsible by recovering some of the money down the road. We don’t have to choose between protecting people and taking appropriate legal action — they go hand-in-hand.”

In the consent decree filed yesterday, the named defendants admitted and accepted responsibility for polluting the site. The EPA determined that from the 1970s through the early 1990s, Port Refinery engaged in mercury reclaiming, refining, and processing. The refinery operated in the Village of Rye Brook out of a two-story garage bordered by private residences on its south, east, and west sides. The EPA said the Port Refinery took virtually no environmental precautions or safety measures during its mercury refinement processing and released a significant amount of mercury into the environment.

DuPont delivered 3,291 pounds of mercury to the refinery. D & D delivered 2,150 pounds of scrap mercury and Oxy sold 190 pounds of surplus mercury and mercury-containing materials to a third-party scrap dealer during Port Refinery’s period of operations. W.A. Baum delivered 1,425 pounds of “dirty” mercury during this same period.

According to the settlement, the defendants will pay a total of $1,412,255 in costs incurred by the EPA. $658,639 will be paid by DuPont. $430,352 will be paid by D & D. $38,031 will be paid by Oxy and $285,233 will be paid by W.A. Baum.

The lawsuit is the United States’ sixth lawsuit against responsible parties to recover cleanup costs for the second cleanup at the Rye Brook site. With this settlement, the United States has recovered a total of $2,382,137 from responsible entities.