Judge orders Seattle Times and leather-cleaning company to pay millions for cleanup costs at former Troy Laundry site
At the same time, Zilly, in an
Zilly also ordered LeatherCare, which offers wholesale leather and suede cleaning to dry cleaners throughout
The
The
It sold the property for
Even before Zilly's ruling, The
Remaining issues resulted in litigation involving The
In his 121-page findings, Zilly found that Troy, now defunct, and LeatherCare were equally at fault for the pollution, even if there were few environmental standards governing the industry when PCE was commonly used as a solvent. He also found that systems used at the property were generally considered state-of-the-art.
"In the absence of other involved entities, and if Troy was still solvent, the Court would hold Troy and LeatherCare each 50 percent liable for the remedial action costs; however, the facts of this case are not so simple," Zilly wrote.
Troy can't be sued because The
Moreover, The
During most of that period, The
"Although
Despite being advised in 1985 by a consultant about the possibility of "slow leaks" from underground tanks, The
Troy's former chief engineer testified that when he still worked for Troy he picked up a manhole cover and "it stunk so bad we put it back down and said don't ever look in there again."
"This was a very complex case, as was the decision. As a result, I will not be able to answer all your questions," Fisco said in an email.
Fisco said The
He said it was during the completion of the sales process to Touchstone that the company learned the extent of contamination issues that happened before the purchase.
"The Court determined that the parties who contaminated the site -- LeatherCare and Troy Laundry -- are primarily responsible for cleaning it up," Fisco said. "We were pleased the Court confirmed that we were not responsible for any of the contamination. However, we are disappointed that the Court found one of those parties (Troy Laundry) to be insolvent, and allocated a share of Troy's responsibility to the
Fisco said the company believes it is entitled to insurance coverage under policies it had in place with
"We will now ask the Court to lift that stay so we can proceed with this suit," Fisco said.
"As to the financial awards included in the decision, we have a judgment against LeatherCare for
A LeatherCare official declined to comment on Zilly's order, and attorneys for LeatherCare did not respond to messages.
Still to be determined are attorney fees and costs that Touchstone is eligible to collect as the prevailing party, and how those might be allocated between The
Zilly determined that to the extent that future costs relate to groundwater treatment, regulatory review or operation of the injection wells, the costs would be shared between The
As to any other remedial activity that can't be anticipated, Zilly declined to determine what equitable apportionment might apply.
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