New York Attorney General Letitia James and New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Basil Seggos disclosed a $4 million agreement that resolves years of hazardous waste disposal and oil spill contamination at the former Tonawanda Forge site in Tonawanda, New York.
The agreement stipulates that American Axle & Manufacturing agrees to compensate the state of New York for costs associated with the state’s cleanup of contamination at the site.
“Too many of New York’s communities still struggle with pollution resulting from a legacy of environmental abuse, neglect, and injustice,” said Attorney General James. “Through our action here, we are recouping $4 million, which will be essential to eliminating a long standing site of contamination in the heart of the greater Buffalo community. My office is committed to holding polluters accountable, and protecting the health and safety of all New Yorkers, as well as our state’s environment.”
Over the years, a number of soil, sediment, groundwater and surface water sampling investigations of the Tonawanda Forge site have found the presence of asbestos; petroleum in soils; and hazardous substances – including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), pesticides, heavy metals (such as lead and arsenic), volatile organic compounds, and semi-volatile organic compounds – at and around the site. Some of this contamination was found at levels exceeding state cleanup standards designed to protect public health and the environment.
General Motors (GM) began manufacturing axles, tie-rods, and other automobile parts at the approximately 33 acre Tonawanda Forge site in the 1950s. In 1994, GM sold the site to American Axle, which operated the site until 2008. American Axle used the same production processes as GM, producing similar parts and generating similar by-products. Logs show that – at least since the early 1990s and into the mid-2000s – the processes GM and American Axle utilized involved use of the hazardous substances found through sampling investigations at the site. An investigation conducted by the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) uncovered evidence that both GM and American Axle had mishandled hazardous wastes and allowed spilled chemicals to leak into the ground through cracks in concrete floors.
In 2008, American Axle sold the Tonawanda Forge site to Lewis Brothers, a scrapper that partially dismantled the site. American Axle also removed some of its equipment after 2008, as part of an agreement with Lewis Brothers. During the removal of the equipment at the site, Lewis Brothers caused petroleum contamination and a PCB oil spill.
Earlier this month, OAG filed an action in U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York against American Axle under the federal Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). The action sought recovery of past and future costs associated with hazardous waste cleanup of the former Tonawanda Forge site. In 2017, OAG filed a lawsuit in New York State Supreme Court, Albany County against American Axle and Lewis Brothers seeking recovery of costs incurred by the state in cleaning up and removing the petroleum contamination at the site.
The federal district court consent decree with American Axle addresses the company’s liability under CERCLA for the hazardous waste cleanup and damages to natural resources at the former Tonawanda Forge site. The company has agreed to pay the state $3.6 million to resolve this matter, which will be directed to the DEC’s Hazardous Waste Remedial fund to support the cleanup of this and other hazardous waste sites in the state. The agreement also references the settlement of the oil spill cost recovery action taken against American Axle for $425,000 – funds that will be deposited in the state’s Environmental Protection and Spill Compensation (Oil Spill) Fund. OAG and American Axle expect to discontinue the lawsuit over the oil spill upon OAG’s receipt of this payment.
Additionally, American Axle has agreed to pay $25,000 for damages to natural resources, which will be deposited in the DEC’s Natural Resources Damages Fund.
Published in the August 2021 Edition
