How much money has DEC obtained through cost recovery? Why hasn DEC obtained more?
Over the life of the program, DEC with the assistance of the Department of Law has recovered more than $73 million in remedial program costs from responsible parties, excluding Love Canal. This amount includes reimbursements for consent orders and voluntary cleanup agreements, as well as costs recovered through litigation. Generally, action to recover site remediation costs occurs only after completion of the construction. Many State-funded sites have not yet reached construction completion. The State of New York has been successful in recovering costs related to Love Canal. In June 1994, Occidental Chemical Corporation reached an out-of-court settlement with New York State in which Occidental agreed to pay the State $98 million in damages. Occidental also agreed to conduct future operations and maintenance activities at an estimated cost of $22 million. Moreover, DEC is required by law to avoid spending Bond Act funds by first pursuing responsible parties to remediate their sites. DEC
