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Date: 03-08-2023

Case Style:

United States of America v. United Alloys and Steel Corporation

Case Number:

Judge: None

Court: United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (Manhattan County)

Plaintiff's Attorney: United States Attorney’s Office in New York City

Defendant's Attorney:








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Description: New York City, New York criminal defense lawyers represented Defendant charged with disposing of or treating mercury produced or used by Port Refinery, Inc., a mercury refining business in the Village of Rye Brook, New York, which released the mercury into the environment.

As alleged in the complaint filed today in White Plains federal District Court:

The Defendant arranged for Port Refinery’s treatment or disposal of scrap mercury at the Site. Port Refinery’s treatment and processing of mercury sent by the Defendant and other parties led to extensive releases of mercury into the environment, necessitating two separate clean-up actions by EPA. In connection with the second clean-up, EPA incurred costs at the Site for investigative and removal activities, including, among other things, excavating and disposing of more than 9,300 tons of mercury-contaminated soil from the Site.

In the consent decree filed today, the Defendant admits and accepts responsibility for the following:

EPA has determined that from the 1970s through the early 1990s, Port Refinery engaged in, among other things, the business of mercury reclaiming, refining, and processing;
Port Refinery operated in the Village of Rye Brook out of a two-story garage bordered by private residences on its south, east, and west sides;
EPA has determined that Port Refinery took virtually no environmental precautions or safety measures during its mercury refinement process;
EPA has determined that Port Refinery released a significant amount of mercury into the environment, contaminating the Site;
EPA has determined that mercury from the Defendants’ mercury-containing products was comingled at the Site and contributed to the mercury released into the environment; and
United Alloys and Steel Corporation delivered 17,253 pounds of scrap mercury for re-smelting purposes to Port Refinery during its period of operations.

* * *

Pursuant to the consent decree, the Defendant will pay a total of $260,000 in costs incurred by EPA. The payment amount was based on the Defendant’s documented inability to pay its full share of the costs incurred.

This lawsuit is the United States’ eighth lawsuit against responsible parties to recover clean-up costs for the second clean-up at the Site. With this settlement, the United States has recovered a total of $3,079,392 from responsible parties.

The consent decree will be lodged with the District Court for a period of at least 30 days before it is submitted for the Court’s approval to provide public notice and to afford members of the public the opportunity to comment on the consent decree.

Mr. Williams thanked the assigned EPA Region 2 Assistant Regional Counsel for his critical work on this matter.

This case is being handled by the Office’s Environmental Protection Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorney Anthony J. Sun is in charge of the case.

Outcome: Defendant agreed to pay $260,000 for the costs incurred by the EPA in conducting clean-up activities at the Port Refinery site.

Plaintiff's Experts:

Defendant's Experts:

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