The city of Whitehall and Genesco Inc have reached an agreement that will hopefully end a series of lawsuits over the cleanup of White Lake’s Tannery Bay, located near a contaminated industrial site (see Leather International, December 2001). The deal paves the way for springtime dredging of the bay with the clean-up scheduled be completed by the autumn.
Whitehall Mayor Norm Ullman said the agreement was a ‘total victory’, while Genesco attorney, Dennis Donohue, described the agreement ‘a fair resolution’ of the clean-up issue.
Under the deal, the state is committed to carry out the clean-up work this year with US$3.1 million of its own funds and US$3.5 million from Genesco. The agreement ends a lawsuit brought by the city and state, but does not give Genesco immunity from future lawsuits.
Genesco have 30 days following the signing of the agreement to send the cheque for nearly $3.5 million to the state.
In addition, Genesco are required to reimburse the state for nearly US$160,000 taxpayers have already spent on testing the land around the plant.
Source: The Associated Press State & Local Wire
