Norlite Facility Control of Fugitive Dust Emissions Class Action

The Norlite, LLC facility in Cohoes, New York is an aggregate production and hazardous waste incineration facility, which was bought by Tradebe Environmental Services, LLC and Tradebe Treatment and Recycling Northeast, LLC in 2011. The complaint alleges that the companies do not adequately control fugitive dust emissions from the Norlite facility, despite the a plan to do so.

The materials made at the Norlite facility include block mix, ¾” aggregate, 3/8” aggregate, and aggregate fines. These materials are used “in various construction markets, including structural concrete, masonry, geotechnical fill, bridges, horticulture, internal curing, asphalt, and others.”

Most of the operations at the facility go on twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days per year. The facility is a source of fugitive dust emissions, which an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) publication defines as “dust that arises from the mechanical disturbance of granular materials exposed to the air that is not discharged to the atmosphere in a confined flow stream.”

The complaint claims the companies’ fugitive dust plan (FDP) was not followed and calls it “grossly insufficient and flawed[.]”

Near the Norlite facility are the Saratoga Sites, residential buildings owned by the Cohoes Housing Authority. These and other communities around the Norlite facility have been designated as an Environmental Justice Area, where minority and low-income populations may “bear a disproportionate share of the negative environmental consequences resulting from industrial, municipal, and commercial operations…”

The complaint alleges that the Norlite facility has a history of violations with the Department of Environmental Conservation. The Saratoga Sites homes and properties have experienced incidents the complaint describes as “a cloud of” and “a film of” fugitive dust emissions, and even “a massive dust storm” and “brownish-blackish snow.”

The complaint says, “The fugitive dust emissions from the Norlite facility are known to contain dangerous and hazardous materials and substances” including crystalline silica quartz and glass materials.

Four classes have been defined for this action:

• The Saratoga Sites Class is all individuals who are lessors of real property located in Saratoga Sites at the time the class in this action is certified, or who have been lessors between April 16, 2018 and April 16, 2021.
• The Surrounding Communities Class is all individuals who are not part of the Saratoga Sites Class and who own or lease real property located in Cohoes, Watervliet, or Green Island, New York, and who live within a mile of the Norlite facility at the time the class in this action is certified, or who have met the criteria between April 16, 2018 and April 16, 2021.
• The Saratoga Sites Biomonitoring Class a Surrounding Communities Biomonitoring Class are those who have met the criteria for their respective related classes above and who have lived for two consecutive years in part or in whole during the class period defined.

Article Type: Lawsuit
Topic: Environmental
Tags: Environmental Contamination, Environmental Pollution, Hazardous or Toxic Materials