For at least 17 years, an environmental organization claims, a Yonkers manufacturer has violated the Clean Water Act.
Now Riverkeeper Inc. is demanding that Graphite Metallizing Corp. stop excessive amounts of copper, lead and sediment from washing into the Saw Mill River during storms, in a Dec. 19 complaint filed in U.S. District Court, White Plains.
Failure to control stormwater pollution could impair water quality, the complaint states, “or affect human health from ingestion of water or fish.”
Graphite Metallizing was founded in 1913, according to its website. It makes a metal alloy that withstands extreme temperatures and is used in bushings to reduce friction between surfaces. The business is on Nepperhan Avenue and about 100 feet from the Saw Mill River, in Northwest Yonkers.
Riverkeeper, a nonprofit organization in Ossining, has sued several companies under the 1972 federal Clean Water Act, to minimize industrial pollution and thus clean up the Hudson River and the waters that feed into it.
The New York Department of Environmental Conservation has regulated Graphite Metallizing since at least 2007, Riverkeeper says. The company has to implement a stormwater pollution prevention plan that minimizes pollutants getting into stormwater and flowing into waterways.
It must conduct regular inspections, for example, identify sources of pollution, cover materials that could be exposed to rainwater, clean up spills and fix problems as they occur.
The company has collected and tested samples of stormwater in catch basins. Thirty-one times since 2007, samples revealed excessive amounts of copper, lead and sediments, according to the complaint. Every copper sample since 2013 has exceeded the regulatory benchmark by 400% to more than 1,000%.
Riverkeeper claims that Graphite Metallizing has not done enough to prevent stormwater from coming into contact with contaminated materials, equipment and debris. In 2020, the company told state regulators that a new dust collection system would handle contaminants, yet, Riverkeeper alleges, excessive copper contamination continued and even worsened.
Riverkeeper accused Graphite Metallizing of failures to implement adequate pollution control measures or take corrective actions.
It is asking the court to declare that the company violated the Clean Water Act, make it comply with anti-pollution regulations, and order it to pay an unspecified civil penalty.
Graphite Metallizing did not reply to a message asking for its responses to the allegations.
