Major NY Water Company to Seek Relief as Contamination Looms

Online, November 25, 2013 (Newswire.com) - Leading mass tort law firm Weitz & Luxenberg, P.C. filed suit November 18 on behalf of the Bethpage, NY Water District, which says the aquifer from which it draws water has become contaminated by toxic chemicals.

The defendant in the suit, the Northrop Grumman Corporation, has for decades maintained a prominent industrial manufacturing facility in the Long Island town of Bethpage. But after contaminating the community's groundwater, Bethpage says, Grumman closed its doors, leaving its mess and taking jobs elsewhere.

According to the complaint, Grumman's wastewater treatment and chemical disposal techniques were not safe and as a consequence leeched dangerous toxins into the earth, and ultimately into the aquifer below.

The Bethpage Water District serves more than 33,000 residents, working to purify that groundwater and pump it into thousands of homes. At the 2006 New York State Fair, their water was named the best-tasting drinking water in the state.

Grumman's manufacturing plants, active from 1936 to 1994, are deeply connected with the Bethpage community. Grumman Corp. helped make the Apollo lunar modules that landed on the moon, and formerly employed many of the town's residents.

But according to Bethpage, those same Grumman facilities failed to take measures to prevent chemical waste products from contaminating the groundwater the District must purify before providing to consumers.

Bethpage's complaint alleges that Grumman's use of sludge drying beds to dispose of toxic compounds leeched harmful chemicals into the groundwater. The complaint also alleges Grumman discarded used oil into pits on Grumman property.

Weitz & Luxenberg's litigation team of Robin Greenwald and Curt Marshall said filing the complaint was the first step toward justice in a case of corporate irresponsibility.

"Our client, the Bethpage Water District, has worked tirelessly to clean up the chemicals Grumman allowed to get into the groundwater," said Greenwald, head of the environmental litigation unit at Weitz & Luxenberg. "The treatment process is expensive, and it is the polluter who should pay for ensuring the delivery of safe water to residents. So far, Grumman has refused to pay its due.

"Weitz & Luxenberg is proud to represent the Bethpage Water District and help them seek a water supply free of Grumman's chemical waste."

The lawsuit (Index No. 2:13-cv-06362-SJF-WDW ) was filed in Federal Court in the Eastern District of New York.