The chemical company was one of four businesses that contaminated the water supply in the upstate New York community. Residents have fought for nearly a decade for a settlement.
The chemical company was one of four businesses that contaminated the water supply in the upstate New York community. Residents have fought for nearly a decade for a settlement.
The chemical company was one of four businesses that contaminated the water supply in the upstate New York community. Residents have fought for nearly a decade for a settlement.
A small town in upstate New York may be close to a final victory in a nearly decade-long legal battle against some of the nation’s biggest companies over the contamination of its water supply.
Corporate giant DuPont, one of the companies that produced a toxic chemical found in the water of Hoosick, a town with fewer than 7,000 people, has agreed to a $27 million settlement of a class-action lawsuit that drew the attention of celebrity environmental activist Erin Brockovich.
The matter was supposed to go to trial this week but was postponed because of progress in settlement negotiations, according to an announcement on Wednesday by lawyers for the plaintiffs.
The agreement would need preliminary approval from Judge Mae A. D’Agostino in U.S. District Court in Albany, N.Y. A period where class members can file claims would follow before the court can issue a final greenlight.
According to Hadley E. Lundback, one of the lawyers for the plaintiffs, there was no admission of liability by DuPont. A spokesman for the company said that he could not comment on active litigation.
“We’ve accomplished everything I set out to do,” said Michael Hickey, one of those who sued after first discovering the tainted water in 2014. “I couldn’t be happier with the outcome.”