The Town of Huntington and the Dix
Hills Water District filed a lawsuit Monday, May 20 to hold The Dow Chemical
Company, Ferro Corporation, and Vulcan Materials Company accountable for the
costs of removing 1,4-dioxane from local water supplies. The Town and Water
District are represented by Sher Edling LLP, a law firm that is also helping
more than two dozen other Long Island communities and water districts protect
their customers from having to pay for those cleanup costs.
"Our water complies with all
existing federal and state drinking water standards, and we are taking
proactive measures to prepare for the adoption of new, stricter standards,
including taking the polluters to court," stated Supervisor Chad A.
Lupinacci. "When you make a mess, you clean it up. The polluters are
responsible for putting these contaminants in our water, and they should be
responsible for the costs of removing them."
The Dix Hills Water District is
taking every precaution necessary to test, monitor, and assess all water
supplies for 1,4-dioxane. If a well is found that fails to meet the established
standards, they will expeditiously take appropriate measures to reduce contaminant
levels.
The most important goal of the
lawsuit is to ensure that the parties responsible for the presence of
1,4-dioxane in the District’s water have to pay the costs of removing it– not
the District’s customers and ratepayers.
Although compliance with new
1,4-dioxane drinking water standards is not yet required, the Town of
Huntington and the Dix Hills Water District are taking proactive measures to
comply with the State Health Department’s adoption of new, stricter standards for
1,4-dioxane.
The lawsuit was filed in the United
States District Court for the Eastern District of New York.
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