County to pay families $1.3 million for polluting water
GOSHEN — Orange County will pay $1.5 million to three Goshen families suffering with MTBE-polluted water since 1998.
In addition, the county has agreed to build a pipeline that will, at long last, supply the Police Drive households with clean water, according to Justin Rodriguez, assistant to county Executive Steve Neuhaus. The pipeline is expected to cost around $300,000.
The families, which sued the county and the Town of Goshen, had claimed potential damages during litigation, which began in 2007, for as much as $18.3 million, Rodriguez said. As recently as May 2015, damages were sought in excess of $10 million, he said.
The case had been moving toward settlement for months. Rodriguez said the pipeline construction was bid over the summer, and that work is now underway.
The families' attorney said he was pleased with the outcome.
“We want to express gratitude to County Executive Neuhaus,” said Dennis Lynch, the attorney for the plaintiffs, in a statement. “He has always done everything he could to bring this case to a reasonable resolution and personally involved himself in it. Finally, our clients are receiving clean water, which we know may have required many more years of litigation and appeals had it not been for the direct efforts of Mr. Neuhaus.”
Stephanie Cockburn, a plaintiff in the case, said in a statement: “County Executive Steve Neuhaus was personally involved and promised to do whatever he could to bring us a fair settlement. He is the first and only elected official since this began that kept his word. As residents of Orange County, we only wanted to be treated fairly, and we feel we have been.”
A long ordealThe three affected households have endured many stops and starts, as the town and county shifted the blame back and forth. In 2007, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation said the county was the source of the spill, which happened in the 1990s and discovered by the town's department of public works while replacing fuel tanks on Police Drive. The affected families have often blasted the town and county for keeping them in ignorance of the contamination for years.
MTBE, a gasoline additive and known carcinogen, was banned in New York starting Jan. 1, 2004.
Darlene Bartley, one of the affected residents, told The Chronicle in 2012: “We are scared to death for our lives and the lives and health of our childre. Our flowers don’t grow. Our pets die, two from cancer. We have rashes and coughs."
In July 2014, the Physical Services Committee of the county legislature, with support from Neuhaus, agreed to pay $350,000 for a new waterline. But the full legislature rejected the proposal because it didn't include a backup water supply for the county jail. The proposal was returned to the Physical Services Committee for modifications.
Rodriguez said the Orange County Water Authority agreed to pay for the waterline under pressure from county lawyers, directed by Neuhaus. The county had entered into an agreement with the Village of Goshen to supply water to the families.
"Initially, the water authority only wanted to pay if the Village of Goshen supplied water to many more properties along the pipeline," Rodriguez said in an emailed statement. "Unfortunately, the Village of Goshen lacked water capacity for that. Discussions then shifted to the Village of Florida’s being able to provide water."
But while Florida had water enough, there were too many disadvantages to tapping this supply.
"The distance the water would travel and the limited flows, left questions about whether the water supply could be safely utilized," Rodriguez stated.
After further talks, he said, the water authority agreed to use water from Goshen.
“I met with these families and promised to try and work out a solution for them,” Neuhaus said in a statement. “As a father and husband, I know the value of clean water to families. I’m certainly happy to have this case resolved. I think this is a great way for these families to start off the New Year and I wish them all the best.”