ARTICLE - TOXIC CHEMICAL POLLUTION - HOFER MACHINE & TOOL

Company to Pay Families $571G in pollution case

By MARK FERGUSON
The Herald & News

NORTH HALEDON - Twenty-two borough families will be paid more than $500,000 by Hofer Machine and Tool Co., to settle a 6 1/2-year-old lawsuit claiming that the company polluted residential wells with toxic chemicals.

Lawyers for Hofer said the company did not admit any guilt in the Dec. 19 settlement but did agree to pay $571,200 to the families.

"I think that the settlement was fair, but keep in mind the company did not admit liability in connection with this," said one of Hofer's attorneys, James Stewart of Roseland. "This judgment is final and we do not plan to appeal."

In addition to the settlement, the families retain the right to bring the suit again if they develop any health problems linked to the pollution, said Angelo Cifaldi, a Woodbridge attorney representing 21 of the 22 families.

Hofer, a tool manufacturer, was accused by the state Department of Environmental Protection in 1987 of contaminating private wells in the area near the Linda Vista Venue plant. Among the toxic chemicals found in the water supply were sulfuric acid and trichloroethane - a volatile degreasing agent suspected of causing cancer.

The area was declared a federal Superfund site and 40 homes were hooked up to the Haledon Water co. An additional 80 homes, where the wells were not severely tainted, were equipped with borough-supplied water filters.

The suit was filed by present and former residents of the area who sought compensatory and punitive damages from the company in 1988. In 1990, Alan Hofer and his company were charged by a grand jury in a six-count indictment for unlawfully washing toxic chemicals and hazardous waste down floor drains and possibly exposing area ground water to the pollutants. In May 1993, the criminal case was dismissed.

Alan and Kenneth Hofer, who along with their late father, Andrew, were named as defendants, will personally contribute to the settlement fund, as well as their company, officials said. Mechanical Oven, which rents space on the plant's property, also will contribute, as will Public Service Electric and Gas Co. and Hybrett Chemicals.

Hofer sued Hybrett, which sold chemicals to the tool company, claiming that Hybrett did not warn Hofer about the toxicity of the chemicals, said Cifaldi, a one-time borough councilman. Another third-party defendant, Mobay Chemicals, was released from the case earlier this year, he said.

Cifaldi declined to discuss the terms of the settlement and added he was "trying to look out for the rights of the people."

Cifaldi said he is waiting for a release describing the official details of the settlement from the defendants, and once the language is agreed upon by both sides, then the money will be distributed.

That should take anywhere from 30 to 90 days, he said.