Pollution's long-lasting legacy
The Lawrence Aviation property in Port Jefferson Station, a toxic waste site, drew firefighters to put out a blaze on Sunday night (Sept. 4, 2011) Credit: Photo by DENNIS C.WHITTAM
A new water treatment plant in Port Jefferson serves two purposes: For two decades, it will be cleaning up toxic chemicals from a mile-long plume that has reached the harbor. And it will act as a disheartening reminder that polluters don't always pay.
The primary culprit, Gerald Cohen, is in prison for the way he ran Lawrence Aviation Industries. But who pays the millions of dollars for cleaning up the mess that his criminal conduct caused? Unless the courts squeeze the money out of him, the taxpayers pay.
The Port Jefferson Station firm produced titanium aircraft parts -- and pollution. Federal prosecutors accused Cohen of violating environmental laws, illegally storing hazardous waste and running diesel generators. He pleaded guilty in 2008 and began serving a year-and-a-day sentence this year.
Beyond the trouble he caused the state Department of Environmental Conservation and the federal Environmental Protection Agency, Cohen also stiffed local governments: He did not pay property taxes for years. Suffolk County made other governments whole and has a large lien on the property, but wisely decided not to seize the tainted land.
Let's hope Suffolk and the EPA can find and tap Cohen's assets and recover the costs. Meanwhile, the new plant, plus one at the site itself, will be cleaning up the mess.
This horror story is another painful lesson in why we need vigilant regulation of reckless polluters.
