Babylon Town villages settle landfill suit

The three villages in the Town of Babylon have settled litigation stemming from their use of a contaminated municipal landfill, Amityville Village attorney Bruce Kennedy said Monday night.

Village trustees authorized a $15,000 payment to a group of companies that paid partial cleanup costs for the landfill once operated by the town. Babylon and Lindenhurst are also expected to make the payments, Kennedy said.

In letters sent last year, lawyers for the companies demanded the villages each pay $50,000 for allegedly disposing of municipal, maintenance and office waste likely containing hazardous substances.

Meeting with trustees before their vote on the payment Monday night, Kennedy called the settlement “well worth it” since it avoids costly litigation.

Babylon Town operated the landfill from 1947 to 1990 when, under an agreement with the state Department of Environmental Conservation, the town spent about $30 million to cap and clean the site.

The state later reimbursed the town $22 million and recouped a portion of that cost — $3.4 million — from the companies, which include Fortune 500 giants such as Northrop Grumman and General Dynamics.

Under the state Superfund law governing the cleanup, they are entitled to recoup that from other parties who used the landfill.

Above: Lindenhurst is one of three Town of Babylon villages to settle a lawsuit over use of a contaminated landfill.