[CPEO-BIF] "Clifton [New Jersey] could be drawn into lawsuit against pharmaceutical giant Roche"

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

[Note the mention of the sewer line. - LS]

Clifton could be drawn into lawsuit against pharmaceutical giant Roche

By JEFF GREEN
Bergen Record (NJ)
February 21, 2015

Two Nutley residents have filed a class-action lawsuit against the  
pharmaceutical giant Hoffmann-La Roche, alleging that toxic chemicals  
used by the company have seeped into groundwater beneath their homes  
and reduced property values.

Clifton officials discussed the lawsuit behind closed doors during a  
meeting this week in anticipation that the city could be named as a  
defendant. The city also hired an outside law firm, DeCotiis,  
FitzPatrick & Cole, as environmental counsel on Roche-related issues.

The lawsuit filed in Essex County Superior Court claims that  
pollutants "now can be found" under as many as 400 houses surrounding  
the company's campus in Clifton and Nutley.

Last year, Roche accused Clifton of failing to maintain a sewer line  
that runs under the company's Route 3 property, allowing for the  
release of contaminants. The city has pledged to repair the line and  
continues to work with the company on a resolution of its complaint,  
said Matthew Priore, the city attorney.

...

For the entire article, see
http://www.northjersey.com/community-news/homeowners-claim-roche- 
tainted-water-sue-company-raise-fears-in-clifton-1.1275618

--

Lenny Siegel
Executive Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
a project of the Pacific Studies Center
278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org

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