Occidental agreed to pay the state a $12 million settlement for the damage to Lake Ontario and fisheries caused by its Niagara Falls manufacturing plant. The settlement by Occidental to reverse lake damage is believed to represent one of the largest natural resource damage claims ever paid for damage to fisheries. When Occidental purchased the plant from Hooker Chemical Co. in 1968, the lake had already suffered substantial pollution. However, the discharges were ongoing when the state originally filed suit in 1983. After 23 years of legal procedure and scientific study, the state and Occidental finalized the settlement. The first $2.4 million payment is due within 30 days.

Commentary: While this is a long, dragged-out, state-level suit, a trend worth noting is that the Feds are getting more aggressive on prosecuting “environmental crimes”. Any good risk assessment should consider environmental compliance risks, as they can show up in all sorts of industries. The ECERA index for environmental risk has increased substantially over the past 18 months.