Lawsuit over Waukegan harbor pollution tossed
A federal judge has thrown out Waukegan's lawsuit against a handful of local businesses over pollution in the city's harbor.
U.S. District Court Judge Matthew F. Kennelly dismissed the city's claims against the National Gypsum Co., Bombardier Motor Corp. of America, LaFarge North America, LaFarge Building Materials, St. Mary's Cement, Larsen Marine Services, the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railway and the Waukegan Port District.
"This is good news for our company and for the other industries located on the harbor," National Gypsum CEO Thomas C. Nelson said in a news release.
Mayor Richard Hyde said the city will appeal the ruling.
"Judges make mistakes, just like everybody else," Hyde said.
The city filed the lawsuit last year in U.S. District Court in Chicago. Pollution in the harbor has been a concern for years.
The issue has been the level of polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, that came from the former Outboard Marine Corp. site in the harbor.
PCBs accumulate in fish and can be harmful to humans. They've led officials to warn people not to eat fish caught in the harbor.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency declared the area a Superfund cleanup site, and a dredging project and other efforts were designed to clean up the water.
The lawsuit claimed cargo boats for the companies disturbed PCB-contaminated sediment in the harbor.
More dredging and environmental cleanup is planned for the harbor, according to the National Gypsum statement.