New York DEP Announces Cleanup of Clayton, NY Site Polluted by Asbestos and Other Environmental Hazards

After a decades-long project, the former Frink America manufacturing site in Clayton, NY, has been fully remediated.  For almost 100 years, the site had housed a number of companies, resulting in both soil and groundwater contamination by asbestos and other dangerous pollutants.

If your family has been affected by a loved one’s diagnosis with asbestos disease, please complete the form on this page for more information about your legal rights to seek compensation from the companies responsible.

On February 5, 2010, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) announced that the cleanup of the industrial site in Jefferson County, NY had been completed.

The 8-acre site had been the home of the Frink America snowplow manufacturing facility from the 1902s until the plant closed in 2000. The site had also served as a rail yard, ice house, and for lumber and coal storage.

The snowplow facility routinely processed raw steel, which contaminated both the soil and groundwater with asbestos, metals, non-chlorinated solvents (toluene and xylene) and petroleum. The facility was also contaminated by paint waste, and required the removal of petroleum and waste storage tanks buried at the site.

New York Agency Funds Cleanup Costs
The facility had been sold to a Canadian company, which suddenly closed the facility. As a result, the property fell into foreclosure and the town of Clayton faced the finding funding to pay for site remediation and asbestos abatement. The cleanup was eventually funded by $1.5 million in grants from the New York Environmental Restoration Program (ERP).

The ERP provides funding to communities facing significant environmental cleanup costs when property owners and/or responsible parties cannot be ordered to pay for the cleanup costs.

Community Health Risks Caused by Environmental Pollution
Asbestos, as well as other environmental pollutants found at the Frink site have long been classified as carcinogens (cancer-causing substances).

In the case of asbestos, those who inhale dusts contaminated by asbestos face a lifelong risk to develop serious asbestos-related illnesses. When asbestos fibers are inhaled, they remain in the lungs rather than being expelled like other airborne substances.

Microscopic asbestos fibers have sharp, jagged edges which cause them to attach to lung tissue. Over the course of 30-40 or more years (known as “latency periods”), the asbestos fibers cause scarring and other lung damage. As a result, many of those exposed to asbestos (even individuals with limited exposure) have developed asbestosis, asbestos lung cancer or mesothelioma.

How Weitz & Luxenberg Can Help
If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with an asbestos-related disease, we may be able to help you to seek justice for your illness and file a lawsuit on your behalf.

Please complete the form on this page for a free and confidential review of your potential asbestos lawsuit or request a free copy of our asbestos sourcebook. A Weitz & Luxenberg representative will contact you as soon as possible.