National, State and Local Groups Urge Governor and DEC to Clean Up Eastman Business Park and Hold Kodak Accountable for Decades of Pollution Don’t Stick NYS Tax Payers with Kodak’s Clean Up Bill! (Albany, N.Y.) Over 30 national, state and regional organizations sent a letter to Governor Andrew Cuomo and Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Joe Martens expressing strong opposition to the proposed $49 million Eastman Kodak environmental liability plan. The groups stated that the plan likely significantly underestimates the amount of funding necessary to comprehensively remediate highly complex contaminated sources, soil, buildings, groundwater and sediment contamination at Kodak Park and the Genesee River. “For decades, Kodak has refused to clean up dozens of toxic hot spots and the contaminated Genesee River,” said Anne Rabe of the Center for Health, Environment & Justice. “Now Kodak, DEC and the Governor have negotiated a toxic bailout proposal in total secrecy with a totally inadequate $49 million fund. If this terrible precedent is approved, state taxpayers will end up paying for Kodak’s toxic legacy, when the company made billions over the years using cheap, environmentally unsound waste disposal practices.” The proposed Kodak settlement would require both the state and federal environmental agencies to waive their rights to sue the company in the future for environmental problems. Given that the proposed $49 million fund is inadequate to comprehensively cleanup Kodak Park and the Genesee River, New York State taxpayers could be stuck footing the bill. The groups are deeply concerned that Kodak would be relieved of all legal liability for past contamination, and therefore we strongly oppose to the proposed plan. The groups support the Environmental Protection Agency’s opposition as they have not agreed to waive liability. “Everyone wants to see this massive, toxic Business Park cleaned up,” said Ron Deutsch, Executive Director of New Yorkers for Fiscal Fairness. “What we don’t want to see is Kodak being absolved for any future problems discovered on the site after remediation begins. New York taxpayers should not be on the hook for a massive clean-up bill that Kodak should be paying.” The groups said the proposed plan is also in total conflict with how the State Superfund and Brownfield programs operate. It is standard procedure for the state to require companies to first conduct a comprehensive environmental investigation to fully ascertain the scope of the pollution and cleanup options. Only then can the cleanup costs be determined. The state would be “putting the cart before the horse” by agreeing to a cap of only $49 million without knowing if that will be sufficient. A single toxic waste site can cost $100 million or more to remediate. Kodak has a number of contaminated sites and has not done comprehensive environmental testing to determine the breadth and scope of their pollution. If it costs more than $49 million to cleanup, which is highly likely, the taxpayers will be left to pay the bill as the State Superfund is on the verge of bankruptcy. “This Kodak moment is a bad deal for Rochester and New York taxpayers,” said Mike Schade, Markets Campaign Coordinator for Center for Health, Environment & Justice (CHEJ). “Kodak has known about their contamination problems in Rochester for decades. They have a moral and financial responsibility to comprehensively clean up the area once and for all.” The groups requested that New York State and the DEC work with the EPA to have Kodak first conduct a comprehensive multi-media remedial investigation/feasibility study at Kodak Park and the Genesee River to more accurately characterize the scope of contamination and remediation costs. They also urged the state to oppose any settlements that relieve Kodak of legal liability given its decades of hazardous discharges and violations.
Posted on: Mon, 29 Jul 2013 23:30:29 +0000
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