Norlite Intervention Sign on Letter for Organizations

Deadline to sign is Thursday February 2, 2023

Attorney General Letitia James
NYS Capitol - 2nd floor
Albany, NY  12224-0341

Dear Attorney General James:

We are writing to urge you to support the motion by Lights Out Norlite (LON) to intervene in the public nuisance lawsuit (State of NY vs. Norlite, LLC) that the AG and the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) filed in October 2022 against the Norlite Hazardous Waste Incinerator and Aggregate Facility in Cohoes. N.Y.

This is a critical environmental justice matter and we urge you to allow the impacted residents to be fully heard and represented in this proceeding.

LON is being represented by the Environmental Litigation Clinic at PACE Law School. Pace is routinely ranked number one in the country for Environmental Law by the U.S. News and World Report, and has a well-deserved reputation for its expertise. Their participation would be helpful both to your office and to the local residents.

In its complaint, LON brings tort claims against Norlite, whose permits to operate expired two years ago, for its wrongful operation of the Facility and a cross claim against DEC for a declaratory judgment that allowing the Facility to continue to operate violates Plaintiffs’ right under the newly amended state constitution to clean air and a healthful environment.

Lights Out Norlite is a grassroots environmental group which is working to address the ongoing and serious pollution threats posed by the Norlite facility. This area of Cohoes has been designated an environmental justice area by the state of New York. It is so bad that the City of Cohoes recently received permission from the federal Housing and Urban Development to purchase and demolish the adjacent public house apartment complex and relocate the residents. To our knowledge, this is the first time HUD has ever approved such drastic action.

Residents have been complaining about the numerous public health and environmental problems with this facility for decades. Many have been forced to leave their homes. Residents have witnessed DEC for over 30 years negotiate one consent order after another that has allowed Norlite to continue to harm their quality of life. At the same time, DEC has frequently publicly dismissed and downplayed the complaints made by residents and environmental groups, including studies conducted by scientists.

We urge you as Attorney General to recognize the right of the residents to be directly involved in any negotiated settlement of this case, which was filed after the residents contacted your office to investigate the matter.
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