The Atlantic Chapter and more than 30 national, state and regional organizations have jointly expressed their strong opposition to a proposed $49 million Eastman Kodak environmental liability plan.
The plan significantly underestimates the likely 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. Now Kodak, the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and Governor Cuomo have negotiated a toxic bailout proposal in secrecy. If this 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. The Chapter and other groups support the Environmental Protection Agency’s refusal to waive liability.
The proposed plan also conflicts 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. Meanwhile, the state Superfund is on the verge of bankruptcy.
The environmental groups requested that the state and the DEC work with the EPA to have Kodak first conduct a comprehensive remedial investigation/feasibility study 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.
Kodak Park was historically the largest industrial facility in New York, covering moret than 1,100 acres, and running nearly four miles through the City of Rochester and the Town of Greece. There were more than 125 manufacturing buildings supported by an infrastructure that included nearly 30 miles of roads, power plants, two hazardous waste incinerators, hundreds of emissions sources, its own sewer system, railroad, fire department and water treatment facilities.
State’s number one polluter
Kodak was New York’s number one polluter, according to the federal Toxics Release Inventory (TRI). Over the years Kodak reported releasing tens of millions of pounds of methylene chloride, a carcinogen, into Rochester’s air and water. For instance, Kodak reported releasing approximately 9.6 million pounds of carcinogens in 1987, when it was first required to report its emissions under the TRI program. As late as 2000, Kodak continued to report releasing over one million pounds of carcinogens.
According to a national report published by the US Public Interest Research Group, Rochester zip code 14652 led all zip codes for emissions of cancer-causing chemicals from 1987 to 2000. Of the 64.4 million pounds of carcinogens released over that period, more than 58 million pounds were air releases of dichloromethane by the Eastman Kodak Co. In addition, the Kodak Park facility ranked among the top 100 facilities nationwide for TRI releases of dioxin in 2000.
Discharges into Genesee River
For decades, Kodak discharged methylene chloride, dioxins and furans, heavy metals such as silver and other hazardous pollutants into the Genesee River, which today has still never been fully assessed nor remediated. For example, Kodak helped contribute to the Genesee River’s dubious recognition as having received the greatest amount of toxic pollution of any water body in New York state between 1990 and 1994. The Hudson River came in second. During that period, Kodak discharged more carcinogens, persistent toxic metals, and the greatest amount of toxic chemicals that cause reproductive damage or birth defects into New York’s waters than any other business in the state. These emissions, in some cases, were later found to be under-reported.
After decades of operations and releases at Kodak Park, soil and groundwater became severely contaminated with methylene chloride and other pollutants, which led to New York’s adding numerous sites at Kodak Park to the state Superfund program. Kodak Park had and likely continues to have 31 miles of underground industrial sewage pipes; many carried hazardous waste and contributed to groundwater and soil contamination at Kodak Park.
Kodak Park health problems
Over the years, Kodak Park neighbors and workers complained of cancer and other health problems that they believed may have been attributed to pollution from Kodak. The New York State Department of Health found that women living near Kodak Park had approximately an 80 percent greater risk of developing pancreatic cancer, which is often fatal. That rate increased to 96 percent among women who lived in the Kodak Park area for at least 20 years. Some parents were also concerned about a childhood cancer cluster near Kodak, which led a to a $75 million lawsuit against Kodak.