By Stevie Smith Jan 4, 2008, 13:23 GMT
Multinational technology company IBM (International Business Machines) this week finds itself fielding a lawsuit accusing it of releasing dangerous chemical waste into the air, ground, and water in the upstate New York towns of Endicott and Union.
IBM sued for chemical dumping in upstate New York. Credit: IBM.
The suit, which was filed on January 03 at the Broome County Superior Court, outlines that IBM’s founding manufacturing plant, situated close to Endicott and Union, was responsible for dumping chemicals such as trichloroethylene and other potentially harmful solvents for 78 years between 1924 and 2002.
According to lawyers representing the plaintiffs, this initial suit, which has been brought by around 90 residents from the two neighbouring towns, is expected to be the first of many to hit IBM as some 1,000 people are claiming that the long-running chemical dumping has negatively affected their lives.
By way of response to the accusations, IBM spokesman Michael Maloney has stated that the technology giant will "defend itself vigorously against these claims that have no merit in science."
The suit charges IBM with dumping millions of gallons of industrial solvents that have led to the contamination of hundreds of homes and business properties in Broome County.
Chemical vapours were discovered seeping into nearby homes in Endicott and Union in 1979, to which IBM has already installed vapour remediation systems in more than 440 affected properties.
The lawsuit charges that exposed residents are now facing the prospect of higher rates of kidney cancer, various other dangerous medical conditions, and plummeting property values.
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