Norlite facing contempt order
AG’S office claims failure to control dust; Cohoes company says it’s done nothing wrong
COHOES — In a new development in the ongoing battle with the company, Attorney General Letitia James’ office is seeking an order of contempt against the Norlite mine/aggregate mill for what it says is the company’s failure to control dust emissions and its slowness in installing specialized monitoring equipment and alert authorities when dust levels exceed a level that warrants an alarm bell.
“Norlite should … be held in civil contempt and this Court should order appropriate sanctions to compel Norlite’s compliance,” reads part of the request for holding the company in contempt.
The request for an order was filed in state Supreme Court in Albany County on Wednesday.
The AG is seeking a fine of $37,318.75, which represents $22,750 for what the office says are violations and the rest to cover attorney’s time that can run more than $300 per hour.
In addition to the attorney general, the Green Education and Legal Fund, a group called Lights Out Norlite and four individuals are participating in the suit.
“Norlite’s violations do not reflect minor quarrels over detail,” adds the filing.
Norlite vowed to fight the request, saying the company has done nothing wrong. “Norlite denies it violated any applicable statutes or regulations and it denies creating conditions injurious to human life,” the company said in a prepared statement.
“Norlite is reviewing the court documents, but it’s important to note that Norlite has been working closely with all regulators and the facility has met promulgated New York state standards for dust emissions that apply to every other business in the state. We are unclear why the state has chosen to cite isolated and inconsistent data to create a suggestion of noncompliance,” they added.
The attorney general as well as state Department of Environmental Conservation took Norlite to court in October 2022 over dust emissions from the facility.
Norlite mines shale from a quarry on-site and
processes it in a large kiln into aggregate that is used in construction and road-building. The kiln is fired from hazardous waste that Norlite collects from throughout the Northeast and burns.
Nearby residents have complained about the silica dust, much of it from slag piles or material being processed in the kiln.
The neighboring Saratoga Sites subsidized housing complex next door had long spoken out about the dust. The complex has since been vacated, with plans to raze the buildings and re-purpose it as an industrial site.
The state and DEC in February 2023 struck an agreement with Norlite in which the company said it would better control the dust and install an extensive air monitoring system.
In the court filing, there is reference to supply chain delays in holding up some pieces of dust detection gear. And Norlite noted that a Department of Health study in September 2023 found no conclusive evidence about potential health impacts among people living near the plant. Opponents of the plant, however, took issue with those findings.
The Lights Out Norlite group last June was allowed to join the AG’S lawsuit because of the state’s new Green Amendment. That amendment, approved by voters in 2021, enshrines in the state constitution the right to “clean air and water, and a healthful environment.”
Viewed as a potentially wideranging legal tool for environmentalists, the amendment is slowing beginning to play a role in some environmental lawsuits.