A Tennessee company will decontaminate groundwater affected by its former textile mill in Garden City Park under a $5.25 million settlement with the Environmental Protection Agency, federal prosecutors announced Monday.
Nashville-based Genesco will run water and air treatment systems at the Fulton Avenue building where it used a carcinogenic chemical that flowed into the ground, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York said. Genesco will also reimburse the EPA for the cost of overseeing its cleanup efforts under the terms of the settlement filed Monday in Central Islip federal court.
“This settlement reinforces this office’s firm commitment to eliminating the hazards posed by sites that threaten public health and safety,” U.S. Attorney Robert Capers said in a statement. “We will continue to hold accountable those responsible for causing or contributing to hazardous substance sites.”
Genesco would also pay $10 million to the Village of Garden City for the contamination of its groundwater under a pending settlement in a separate federal lawsuit filed in 2007, federal court documents show.
Genesco operated the textile factory from 1965 to 1974 and dry-cleaned fabrics using tetrachloroethylene, a chemical commonly known as perc that causes cancer and harms the brain, kidney, liver, immune system and reproduction.
Perc made its way into the water, soil and air around the 0.8-acre site, leading the EPA to take it over in 1998 as a “Super
